Georgia Resident Pleads Guilty To COVID-19 Unemployment Fraud Targeting Several States

USDOJ NEWS TODAY

BIRMINGHAM, ALA. – An Austell, Georgia resident pleaded guilty today to using stolen identities to fraudulently collect more than $4 million in unemployment benefits from the Illinois Department of Employment Security (DES) and attempting to defraud at least five other states, announced U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona and United States Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Patrick Davis.

Olushola Adewole Afolabi, 39, of Austell, Georgia pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud before U.S. District Court Judge Abdul K. Kallon. Afolabi’s co-defendant, Olugbeminiyi Aderibigbe, 38, of Powder Springs, Georgia, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in May.

“Defrauding government programs designed to assist struggling Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic is shameful,” said U.S. Attorney Prim Escalona. “The United States Attorney’s Office and our law enforcement partners will aggressively target individuals who used a national pandemic as an opportunity to line their own pockets.”

“The defendants stole millions intended for those suffering during the pandemic and sent the proceeds overseas. Thanks to the hard work of the Northern District of Alabama, these criminals have been brought to Justice,” Office of Deputy Attorney General, Director of COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Kevin Chambers said. “This case and others to come demonstrate the Department’s commitment to aggressively pursue and disrupt transnational actors who exploited pandemic relief programs.”

According to court documents, Afolabi and co-conspirators orchestrated a scheme from September 2020 through July 2021 to defraud the Illinois DES into paying out more than $4 million in unemployment insurance benefits. As part of the scheme, the conspirators filed fraudulent claims using stolen identities of elderly Illinois residents. The conspirators deposited the proceeds of the fraudulent claims into bank accounts opened specifically to perpetrate the fraud. Afolabi and co-conspirators then used the associated debit cards to withdraw cash and purchase money orders from retail stores across the Northern District of Alabama and elsewhere. The conspiracy further laundered the unemployment insurance funds by using the money orders to purchase salvaged automobiles in the United States and ship them to Nigeria.

The maximum penalty for conspiracy to commit wire fraud is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

U.S. Secret Service investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jonathan “Jack” Harrington and Edward J. Canter are prosecuting the case

On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.

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Nigerian Priest Is New Pastor Of Christ Our Hope

Father John Paul Ezeonyido

BY STEPHEN O'KANE, STAFF WRITER, GEORGIA BULLETIN

LITHONIA-Father John Paul Ezeonyido has answered Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory’s call in June to serve as pastor of Christ Our Hope Church, a position to which he is still adjusting.

“I have always understood being a pastor as being a shepherd, helping to bring people closer to Christ,” said Father Ezeonyido. “And I understand that being a shepherd comes with a lot of challenges.”

A native of Akukwa Village, Ngo, Igbo-Ukwu, in Anambra State, Nigeria, Father Ezeonyido comes from a large family of his two parents, six siblings and more than 25 nieces and nephews. Initially interested in becoming a doctor, the young man heard God calling him to priesthood, and after earning his bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Bigard Memorial Seminary in Enugu, Nigeria, he began discerning traveling to the United States as a missionary priest. His missionary call was affirmed as the Atlanta vocations office asked to meet him and invited him here, recognizing that the Nigerian Igbo Catholic community in the Atlanta area needed more spiritual support.

He came to the United States in 1999 and continued his seminary formation, earning a master of arts and a master of divinity in theology with a specialization in Old Testament Sacred Scripture at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md. During his seminary training, Father Ezeonyido lived and worked with Hispanic and multicultural communities in El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, as part of an immersion program, picking up some Spanish along the way.

Ordained by the late Archbishop John F. Donoghue as a priest of the archdiocese in 2003, Father Ezeonyido, 41, has served the Catholic Church in Georgia in various capacities, working with both American and African immigrant communities.

He earned his third graduate degree, in social work, in 2011 from the University of Georgia, Athens. Father Ezeonyido earned certification in marriage and family therapy during his time at UGA.

He has also earned certification as a hospital chaplain and previously served as chaplain at Saint Joseph’s Hospital, Atlanta, and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite.

Father Ezeonyido’s previous assignments in the archdiocese include serving as a parochial vicar at Holy Cross Church, Atlanta; Holy Trinity Church, Peachtree City; and St. Stephen the Martyr Church, Lilburn. He has served as chaplain of the Nigerian Igbo Catholic Community of Atlanta for the past eight years.

He enjoys traveling, playing tennis, working out and preaching.

As he makes the shift from student and parochial vicar to pastor of the Lithonia parish, he admits he is still adjusting to the responsibilities of his new assignment. While his previous duties have prepared him in certain ways, he is still learning the business side of the pastoral duties.

“Being a pastor does not mean being comfortable,” said Father Ezeonyido, who likened being a pastor to a literal shepherd, who must protect his sheep from outside dangers.

A pastor must do what is best for the good of his flock, he said.