Abidemi Rufai, Ogun Governor Dapo Abiodun’s associate, has been released from prison in the United States, Peoples Gazette has learnt.

Mr Rufai, 47, was released from the U.S. Bureau of Prisons’ custody in Fort Dix, New Jersey, on November 15, 2024, The Gazette understands via correctional documents. The convicted felon would now ready himself for deportation from the U.S. as stipulated in his guilty plea. His Nigerian passport was returned to him on October 21, 2024, after he filed a motion to reduce his sentencing.

When he pleaded guilty to allegations of tax fraud and aggravated identity theft in 2022, Mr Rufai waived his rights to challenge deportation after serving out his jail sentence.

He was sentenced to 60 months in prison on two counts of fraud in 2022 after prosecutors presented a strong case of multimillion-dollar fraud backed with 100,000 pages of evidence before a federal judge in Tacoma, Washington. The terms were scheduled to run concurrently. 

Mr Rufai, widely known as Elele Ruffy, was scheduled to be released on Valentine’s Day in 2025 but a judge approved his motion to be released earlier based on new sentencing guidelines, and the U.S. Bureau of Prisons forwent the three months left of his sentence.

He was ordered to pay $607,000 in restitution to the U.S. government agencies across multiple states, and a Nigerian court ordered the seizure of his Lekki mansion in Lagos and bank accounts after the anti-graft office EFCC filed fraud charges against him.

Mr Rufai was widely known as a notorious Internet fraud ringleader in Lagos and Ogun for many years before he extended his fraudulent operations to the U.S., where he got nabbed.

He served in the same prison as infamous Internet fraudsters Ramon ‘Hushpuppi’ Abbas and Jacob Olalekan Ponle, also known as Mr Woodberry, who are still serving long sentences in American jails. 

It was not immediately clear whether or not Mr Rufai would return to his job as an aide to Mr Abiodun in Ogun. The governor was arrested for fraud in Florida over three decades ago, but his punishment was unclear.