INDIANAPOLIS — A Bloomington woman has been sentenced to more than five years in federal prison for her involvement in a $5.5 million international COVID fraud scheme.
Oluwatobi Seton, 28, pleaded guilty to wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
According to court documents, Seton, along with co-conspirators based in Nigeria, obtained unemployment and other benefits during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Seton and her co-conspirators defrauded state and federal governments by falsely applying for benefits using stolen identities.
They opened GoBank accounts using the stolen identities of their victims and obtained debit cards to apply for the benefits. Seton used fake IDs with her victims' names to receive the money.
At the time of her arrest, Seton was found to have over 1,400 GoBank cards and 10 drivers' licenses — all with different names — in her possession.
In total, Seton and her co-conspirators stole at least $5,475,459 from state and federal governments. Seton kept a portion of the proceeds and sent the rest to her co-conspirators in Nigeria. Investigators seized over $550,000 in cash from the GoBank accounts linked to the operation.
“Fraudsters like this defendant who sought to exploit the urgent need to provide pandemic relief must be held accountable, said Zachary A. Myers, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana. "I commend the work of our partners at the FBI, Bloomington Police Department, and Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, along with our federal prosecutors, to identify criminals like this defendant and ensure that they pay the price for their crimes.”
