A Nigerian-born U.S. citizen, Oladapo Olalekan Fadugba, has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Florida for multiple offences, including wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and making false statements during his U.S. naturalization process.
According to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida, Fadugba, aged 40 and residing in Jacksonville, is accused of illegally redirecting more than $690,000 in funds from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) between October 2020 and July 2023.
The money, which was designated as reimbursement to a large local medical provider, was allegedly funneled into personal bank accounts controlled by Fadugba.
The indictment claims that Fadugba used another person’s identity to facilitate the transactions and wrote checks to himself or entities linked to him.
Those funds were later transferred across various bank accounts under his control.
In addition to the financial fraud charges, authorities allege that Fadugba lied under oath during his U.S. naturalization process, falsely stating that he had not committed any crimes for which he had not been arrested — despite being involved in the alleged fraudulent activities at the time.
The federal government is also seeking a forfeiture order of approximately $400,000, believed to be the proceeds from the alleged crimes.
If convicted on all counts, Fadugba could face a maximum sentence of 27 years in federal prison.
Authorities have emphasized that an indictment is a formal charge and that the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
