Idowu Olamilekan Fatade, a Nigerian, was extradited from Lagos to the United States of America on Thursday over his involvement in multimillion dollar fraud.

According to the information made available on the website of the US Department of Justice, Olamilekan was apprehended for his involvement in a scheme to fraudulently obtain medical, laboratory and computer equipment worth millions of dollars from across the United States between 2018 and 2022.

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The 40-year-old Nigerian was said to have impersonated US procurement officials while committing the fraud.

“Fatade Idowu Olamilekan is alleged to have carried out a sprawling criminal scheme to fraudulently obtain medical equipment and other merchandise,” said Damian Williams, a US attorney.

“Olamilekan allegedly identified US procurement officials, including the Chief Procurement Officer for New York, to then impersonate them and use their credentials to request millions of dollars in equipment shipments from various suppliers without advance payment. 

“Olamilekan has now been extradited to the U.S. for his alleged attempt to illegally profiteer from the worldwide pandemic.”

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) also accused Olamilekan of stealing critically needed medical equipment that was in short supply at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

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The Nigerian imitated email accounts of US procurement officials to request the supply of the equipment from targeted suppliers. He then provided the suppliers with purchase orders containing forged signatures of the impersonated procurement officials and addresses of warehouses located in the United States for delivery and storage of the equipment purchased.

The warehouses re-shipped the equipment to locations in Australia, the United Kingdom and Nigeria.

Olamilekan has been charged with one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum penalty of 27 years in prison; one count of interstate transportation of stolen property, which carries a maximum penalty of 17 years in prison; and 12 counts of aggravated theft, which carries a mandatory minimum penalty of two years in prison.