Three U.S.-based Nigerians, Kamaldeen Karaole, Stephen Olamigoke, Johnson Omodusonu, have been sentenced to prison for stealing $520,910 in pandemic unemployment assistance funds.

The trio of Messrs Karaole,  Olamigoke, Omodusonu were “sentenced to federal prison for their roles in a COVID-19 fraud scheme that resulted in the theft of $520,910 in unemployment benefits from various state and federal unemployment programs,” the U.S. Justice Department said in a statement on Monday.

Citing court documents, the U.S. Justice Department said the trio “between August and October 2020, stole 168 Unemployment Insurance (UI) debit cards and associated PIN numbers. These cards, issued by the states of California, Arizona, and Nevada, were being periodically loaded with benefits.”

It added, “None of the cards belonged to the members of the conspiracy—they were all in the names of other real individuals. To obtain the cards, other members of the conspiracy located outside the United States had used stolen personally identifiable information to file numerous false unemployment claims with various state workforce agencies.”

Mr Karaole, 24, bagged four years and three months for aggravated identity theft, conspiracy to commit access device fraud and access device fraud.

Mr Olamigoke, 23, who agreed to deportation upon completion of his sentence, was jailed two and a half years for conspiracy to commit access device fraud, while Omodusonu, 24, was slammed with years of imprisonment for conspiracy to commit access device fraud. 

Tom Wheeler, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, Tom Wheeler, condemned the trio for gaming the system to steal what was meant to provide relief for people during the pandemic.

Mr Wheeler said, “Stealing unemployment benefits meant to help people survive during one of the worst crises in modern history is both heartless and criminal. These defendants exploited a system designed to support those in genuine need, and now they are being held accountable for their greed thanks to the diligent work of our federal partners and prosecutor.”