THE United States Magistrate Judge in Eastern District of New York, Ramon Reyes, has received a letter from the US Department of Justice, clappiming that the surety provided by alleged fraudster, Abidemi Rufai, can not be relied on because she is also a fraudster.
Rufau is a suspended aide of Governor Dapo Abiodun.
The suspect had presented a registered nurse, Nekpen Soyemi, as his surety after his brother, Alaba Rufai, who is listed in court records could not come up with the $300,000 surety bail bond.
His release was delayed till May 25 after it was previously denied.
According to the Acting U.S. Attorney, Tessa Gorma, Ms Soyemi is also a suspected fraudster and should not be allowed to stand as a surety for Mr Abidemi Rufai.
The surety is reported to be in an ongoing investigation of an email impersonation scheme.
The statement in a letter addressed to the U.S Magistrate reads: “First, the FBI has conducted research into the Surety and has learned information indicating that the Surety is not an appropriate person to perform that role.
“In 2015, the Surety’s bank (Bank of America) issued a report naming the Surety as a suspect in an investigation into an email impersonation scheme.
“According to the bank’s report, a person purporting to be a donor deposited $134,000 into the bank account of a legitimate nonprofit. The “donor” (who was never identified) then contacted the non-profit and stated that some of the deposited funds were intended for a different recipient.
“The donor asked the non-profit to wire the excess funds to three different accounts, one of which was a Bank of America account in the Surety’s name. The report indicates that the Surety then made cash withdrawals of the proceeds at two different B of A locations. The Surety did not respond to inquiries from Bank of America.
“Second, FBI’s research was unable to confirm that the Surety owns the listed real property. Mortgage and deed records for the property indicate that it was last purchased by an individual with the initials L.S.G. on November 7, 2014.
“The Surety has also submitted records showing that she has $335 in Robinhood investment account and $1,838 in a checking account. Neither submission suggests the Surety is in a position to secure a $300,000 bond.”
