Pastor Edward Abiodun Oluwasanmi, a prominent Nigerian pastor, has been arrested by the FBI for allegedly conspiring with Osun monarch Oba Joseph Oloyede to defraud the U.S. government of $4.2 million in COVID-19 relief funds.
The duo was indicted in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio on charges of conspiracy, wire fraud, and money laundering. According to court documents, Oluwasanmi used his companies—Dayspring Property Incorporated, Dayspring Holdings, and Dayspring Transportation—to submit falsified loan applications to secure pandemic relief funds.
Prosecutors claim that in October 2021, Oluwasanmi transferred $1 million of the funds into a brokerage account under Dayspring Transportation. The FBI arrested him in Cleveland in April, with a 13-count fraud indictment. He was released on $20,000 bail, but his U.S. and Nigerian passports were confiscated, and authorities seized approximately $620,000 from his accounts, including $599,250 from a Fidelity Investments account.
The case has taken an unexpected turn with the involvement of Oba Joseph Oloyede, the Apetu of Ipetumodu, who was initially reported missing in March 2024, but later found in FBI custody. Oloyede, a U.S. citizen, was arrested on May 4, 2024, after being indicted for orchestrating fraudulent loan schemes via six registered companies.
Investigations reveal that Oloyede secured over $100,000 in loans for four of his companies in June 2020 and two $500,000 loans in October 2021. Prosecutors allege he also aided other fraudsters, taking a percentage of loan amounts. A grand jury indicted both men on April 3, 2024, for defrauding the U.S. Small Business Administration’s pandemic relief programs between April 2020 and February 2022.
The case remains under investigation as prosecutors seek the forfeiture of fraudulent proceeds.
