Bamidele Muraina Sentenced To U.S. Federal Prison

Muraina, who lived in Atlanta, also hacked into tax preparation firms and filed fraudulent tax returns using stolen personally identifiable information.

Nigerian Bamidele Muraina from Oyo State has been sentenced to U.S. federal prison for tax fraud and for filing bogus jobless claims in the state of Washington.

He is the second Nigerian, after Abidemi Rufai of Ogun, to be arrested over the massive fraudulent jobless claims that hit the U.S. state last year.

His co-conspirator, Gabriel Kalembo, a previously convicted fraudster helped him to launder the fraudulent assets,

“These defendants stole funds from programs meant to assist American workers and families seeking to make ends meet during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine.

“The collaborative efforts of our law enforcement partners were essential to disrupting a sophisticated network of criminals and bringing their leaders to justice.”

“The conspirators not only stole from the government but also victimized individuals and private businesses in this case,” said IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge James E. Dorsey.

“Recovering from ID theft often costs time, money, and stress for all parties involved. Thanks to successful partnerships with our agency counterparts and leveraging our financial expertise to serve and protect our communities from further harm.”

 

“The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating effect on us all. The enterprise created by these serial criminals further victimized our citizenry by robbing them of financial resources that were intended to help them,” said Special Agent in Charge Steven Baisel, U.S. Secret Service Atlanta Field Office. “Thanks to our judicial system, justice has been served.”

 

“Bamidele Muraina engaged in a conspiracy to defraud the Employment Security Department of Washington State (“ESD-WA”) by filing dozens of fraudulent unemployment insurance (UI) claims in the names of identity theft victims who were not entitled to such benefits.

 

As part of the same conspiracy, Gabriel Kalembo and his conspirators laundered the unlawfully obtained UI benefits from ESD-WA by purchasing and then later negotiating hundreds of money orders.

 

“We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners and state workforce agencies to protect the integrity of unemployment insurance benefit programs,” said Rafiq Ahmad, Special Agent in Charge, Atlanta Region, U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General.

 

“The sentencing of the defendants should serve as a deterrent to all who intend to exploit the COVID-relief programs that were designated to assist those in need during the pandemic,” said Tommy D. Coke, Inspector in Charge of the Atlanta Division of the United States Postal Inspection Service. “Postal Inspectors will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to investigate anyone that steals federal funds to enrich themselves and have them held accountable under the law.”

 

“These criminals shamelessly stole people’s hard-earned tax returns and money meant to help families during the pandemic, but thankfully they were exposed and are now facing justice,” said Special Agent in Charge Katrina W. Berger, who oversees Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) operations in Georgia and Alabama. “HSI and its law enforcement partners will continue to aggressively pursue those that seek to profit from these activities.”