A 43-year-old Nigerian national, Abiola Femi Quadri, of Pasadena in the San Gabriel Valley, has been sentenced to 135 months (over 11 years) in federal prison for orchestrating a wide-ranging fraud scheme that stole over $1.3 million in COVID-19 pandemic unemployment and disability benefits from the states of California and Nevada.
According to Hobnob News, United States District Judge George H. Wu handed down the sentence on Thursday, also ordering Quadri to pay $1,356,229 in restitution and a $35,000 fine.
Court documents reveal that Quadri submitted more than 100 fraudulent benefit applications using stolen identities. He used the illicit proceeds to fund several luxury projects in Nigeria, including the construction of a 120-room resort hotel known as Oyins International, which features a nightclub, shopping mall, and other upscale amenities.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California disclosed that Quadri gained permanent residency in the United States through what he described in private messages as a “fake wedding.”
Quadri pleaded guilty on January 2, 2025, to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud. From 2021 until his arrest in September 2024, he withdrew stolen funds from ATMs across Southern California.
Authorities apprehended Quadri at Los Angeles International Airport, just before he was scheduled to board a flight to Nigeria.
“Quadri sent at least $500,000 abroad during the scheme,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement. “He failed to disclose his ownership of the Nigerian hotel when completing financial disclosures required by the court.”
Federal investigators also found images of 17 counterfeit checks worth over $3.3 million on Quadri’s phone, along with messages discussing how to negotiate the checks. Some were made payable to shell businesses registered under false identities.
In a separate twist, Quadri had been receiving payments from the state of California for running daycare services for developmentally disabled children through his Altadena-based company, Rock of Peace. But when federal agents searched his home, they discovered misappropriated food-aid debit cards intended for the children under his care.
The case was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service, Homeland Security Investigations, and the California Employment Development Department Investigation Division.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Brown of the Major Frauds Section led the prosecution.
Quadri’s conviction marks one of the most egregious examples of pandemic-era fraud involving international money laundering and exploitation of U.S. welfare programs.
