A 43-year-old Nigerian national, Abiola Femi Quadri, has been sentenced to 135 months in federal prison in the United States for orchestrating a sophisticated $1.3 million COVID-19 benefits fraud, part of which he used to construct a luxury resort hotel and mall in Nigeria.
Quadri, who resided in the San Gabriel Valley, California, was convicted of submitting over 100 fraudulent applications using stolen identities to obtain unemployment and disability insurance benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic. The funds were fraudulently obtained from California and Nevada, according to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.
He was sentenced on Thursday, July 10, 2025, by U.S. District Judge George H. Wu, who also ordered him to pay $1,356,229 in restitution and a $35,000 fine.
Court documents revealed that Quadri, who acquired U.S. permanent residency through what he referred to as a “fake wedding,” pleaded guilty in January to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud.
The statement issued by Public Information Officer Ciaran McEvoy disclosed that Quadri had withdrawn large sums of the fraudulent benefits from ATMs between 2021 and 2024, before he was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport while preparing to board a flight to Nigeria.
Further investigations uncovered that he had sent at least $500,000 overseas during the operation and was funding the construction of a 120-room luxury resort—Oyins International—in Nigeria, featuring a nightclub, shopping mall, and other upscale amenities.
Court filings revealed that Quadri failed to disclose ownership of the property while under court-ordered financial disclosure obligations.
Federal agents also recovered images of 17 counterfeit checks totaling more than $3.3 million on Quadri’s phone, alongside conversations referencing negotiations of the fake checks. Many of these checks were made payable to shell companies registered under his aliases.
Additionally, Quadri operated Rock of Peace, a daycare business based in Altadena, California, and received state payments to care for developmentally disabled children. However, agents found misappropriated food-aid debit cards for children during a search of his residence.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Homeland Security Investigations, and the California Employment Development Department’s Investigation Division. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Brown of the Major Frauds Section.
Quadri’s sentencing marks yet another in a series of fraud convictions tied to pandemic-era relief programs, which U.S. authorities continue to probe nationwide.
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