Osun State Government says it will obtain an official copy of a United States court judgment that sentenced Oba Joseph Oloyede, the Apetumodu of Ipetumodu, to prison for COVID-19 relief fund fraud before taking any decision on his traditional stool.
Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs,
Mr Dosu Babatunde, made this known in a statement on Wednesday.
He stressed that the state would not act based on unverified
social media reports.
“While it may be true that the monarch has been convicted
and jailed, there is no official record before us,” Babatunde said.
“We will ensure that the Certified True Copy of the judgment
is obtained. After carefully studying it, the government will then decide the
appropriate steps to take. We cannot rely on Facebook posts and online stories
to justify a matter of this magnitude,” he added.
Oba Oloyede, 62, who holds dual citizenship of Nigeria and the
United States, was on Tuesday handed a 56-month prison sentence by U.S.
District Judge Christopher A. Boyko. He was also ordered to serve three years
of supervised release and to pay $4,408,543.38 in restitution.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern
District of Ohio, the monarch forfeited his Medina, Ohio residence, purchased
with proceeds from the fraud, alongside $96,006.89 traced to the scheme.
Investigators found him guilty of leading a conspiracy that
manipulated COVID-19 emergency loan programs created to support struggling
small businesses during the pandemic.
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