Osun Monarch Faces COVID-19 Fraud Trial In US

The whereabouts of Apetu of Ipetumodu, Oba Joseph Olugbenga Oloyede, is causing ripples in his domain, as residents and indigenes of the community are calling for the intervention of the Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, in unraveling the mystery behind his disappearance.

 

Oba Oloyede, a United States of America-based accountant and information system expert, was appointed new Apetu in July 2019.

He succeeded Oba James Adegoke, who died on November 26, 2017.

 

Our correspondents learnt that the royal father had been regularly shuttling between Nigeria and his base in the US since his installation.

However, since March 2024 that he left his domain, he has not been seen, fueling speculations about his whereabouts.

While some of the residents who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of attack said Oloyede was indisposed and was recuperating in the US, many others believed the monarch was facing trial for fraud.

 

Monarch last seen in March 2024.

A chief in Ipetumodu, who spoke on condition of anonymity said many of his colleagues, including the Oosa of Ipetumodu, who is next in line to Apetu, had stopped going to the palace.

 

He said, “It’s been close to a year now that we have not seen our king in the town.”

 

The chief noted that Oloyede was also missing critical community events.

 

“Last December, we were told he would come back to town before January ended, but it’s now February and we haven’t seen him. It was the IPU Chairman, Joba Akinjogbe, that spoke on behalf of the king during this year’s Christian annual prayer.

 

“But on the day of the prayer, we saw someone that looked like our monarch on screen through a projector. But we didn’t see his face. He told the gathering that he was not in prison and promised to come back by January ending.

 

“In 2024, we were told he was sick but since then, we have not seen him in town and nobody knows where he is,” he added.

 

The chief lamented that before the monarch disappeared, he demolished the “ancient palace” and promised to build a modern one.

 

“He was not living in the palace. He was staying at his private residence. We told him then that it’s not proper to demolish the entire palace. But now, the entire old palace has been demolished even in his absence. The court was also demolished.

 

“Some chiefs, led by the Asalu, Sunday Adedeji, are still going to the palace to hold meetings. But the Oosa, who is the second in command to the king, and four others, including myself, are no longer going there for meetings.

 

“During the last event when the king was projected on screen, a lot of residents said that it was fake and insisted that the only thing they wanted was for the king to come back to the town,” he added.

 

A reliable source close to the palace said three major festivals – Odun Egungun (masquerade festival), Odun Edi (Edi festival) and Ota Aaje (Obatala festival) were not graced by the Apetu.

 

Our correspondent gathered that the monarch was expected to wear an ancient crown and offer iwure (blessings) for the town and his subjects during the Edi festival, which took place in October 2024, but he was nowhere to be found.

The king’s absence from the festivals reportedly created panic in the town.

 

“It was the king’s wife who represented him and this is against our culture,” the source said. “It is an abomination for the masquerade to bow to a woman.”

 

“The king and the Aaje deity are supposed to see each other in a year during the Ota Aaje festival but he was not there. It is a popular belief that the deity gave birth to all the Ipetumodu’s princes. Even the king didn’t attend Ipetumodu Day.”

 

A member of a royal family who said he could not speak on record for fear of being attacked said the absence of the monarch was impacting negatively on the community.

 

He claimed that the king’s wife had been running the community as a regent.

 

The prince said, “Residents are asking the chiefs about the whereabouts of Oba Oloyede, but the chiefs have not given them any genuine reply. They keep saying he is doing business abroad while some are saying he is sick.

 

“Our monarch came to Ipetumodu last year in March, but since he left then, we have not seen him in town. Although he doesn’t stay long in Ipetumodu before travelling, this one is the longest that he has not come to the town since he was crowned king in 2019.

 

“But we saw it online that the king and one Oluwasanmi were involved in a COVID-19 fund scam in America and the American government has indicted him. It was also reported that the government has seized all his property and he was not allowed to travel out of the country.”

 

Fraud Charges

 

Saturday PUNCH noted that around the time the monarch travelled in 2024, the US indicted one Joseph Oloyede (61), and another defendant, Edward Oluwasanmi (61), for their alleged roles in a scheme to fraudulently obtain $4.2m in COVID-19 relief funds.

 

The two suspects were charged with 13 counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering.

 

According to a press release by the US Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of Ohio on April 5, 2024, the said suspects floated a series of phony businesses to allegedly receive $4.2m in funds designed to help small businesses and employees survive the coronavirus pandemic.

 

The statement revealed that both defendants devised a means to defraud financial institutions by obtaining COVID-19 relief funds from SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan programme and the Paycheck Protection Programme under false pretenses.

 

“Oloyede is also alleged to have submitted falsified PPP and EIDL loan applications in the names of other co-conspirators and confederate borrowers and their businesses, obtaining approximately $1.3m through those applications for a total of at least $4.2m obtained through the fraud,” the statement added.

 

Oloyede and Oluwasanmi had property in Medina and Willoughby, respectively, and were charged by a federal court in Cleveland.

 

However, both men were released on $20,000 unsecured bonds.

 

Cleveland.com, a reputable media organisation in the US, while quoting court records, reported that Oloyede is the owner of Available Tax Services, a consultant business in Bedford Heights.