魅影直播

Watch CBS News

Pennsylvania man indicted in Colorado on variety of nationwide fraud schemes

A Pennsylvania man was recently indicted on a dozen federal charges related to using more than 1,000 stolen or fake identities to file for unemployment benefits and COVID-19 relief funds in more than 30 states, including Colorado. He led an effort that hauled in $5.6 million.

Adepoju Babatunde Salako, a 33-year-old resident of Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Denver in May. He appeared in Denver federal court June 13. He faces six counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, and four counts of aggravated identity theft.

Two of the four identity theft counts come from the stolen identities of Coloradans. 

Salako's alleged offenses began the same month (March 2020) the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security () Act was signed by President Donald Trump and put in action, according to the grand jury indictment. Federal investigators claim Salako filed for expanded unemployment insurance benefits and applied for other funds provided by new Small Business Administration (SBA) programs - the Paycheck Protection Program ("PPP") and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan ("EIDL") - all enacted by the CARES Act. 

Salako worked with a resident of Nigerian to file and apply for the federal funds with stolen identities. They funneled much of the money to Salako's personal bank accounts or out of the country. The Nigerian resident, while known to the grand jury, was not named in the indictment.

adepoju-babatunde-salako-5-6-million-covid-fraud-from-green-county-so-missouri.png
Adepoju Babatunde Salak following his recent arrest on federal fraud charges. Greene County (Missouri) Sheriff's Office

Salako, using names and addresses obtained through search websites like TruthFinder, submitted 15 fraudulent applications in two-and-a-half months for the unemployment insurance benefits. They used identities of Colorado, Maryland, Minnesota, New Hampshire, and New York residents. Salako's Nigerian counterpart turned in 54 applications in five months, per the indictment. Together, they asked for more than $700,000 in funds. They received just over $73,500. 

But the pair's work on the EIDL and PPP loans went deeper and proved much more fruitful, per the indictment. Working with a number of other unnamed people and using more than 1,000 stolen identities, Salako and the Nigerian co-conspirator filed fraudulent COVID-19 relief claims in 30 different states. They obtained $4,711,200 in EIDL funding alone. All the EIDL payments originated from an SBA finance center in Denver, and all the money went through Colorado bank accounts to other destinations.

Additionally, the group hid money through romance scams. They allegedly used fake profiles on friendship or dating sites to lure victims into performing transfers of their ill-gotten funds. Salako deposed almost a half millions dollars in one such victim's bank account, then directed that person to make cash withdrawals, purchase money orders and send money via cashier's checks to Salako's personal cell phone business, according to the indictment. Salako forwarded much of that money to accounts in China, Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates.

The case was (and still is being) investigated by the United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, and Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. The Economic Crime Section of the United States Attorney's Office is prosecuting it.  

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.