Nigerian man sentenced in U.S. over Alaska permanent fund fraud scheme

A United States federal court has sentenced a 33-year-old Nigerian national, Adepoju Babatunde Salako, to 18 months in prison for his role in a 2022 identity theft and wire fraud scheme targeting Alaska’s Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) program.

Salako, who was residing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at the time of the offence, pleaded guilty to seven counts of wire fraud before the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska.

According to federal prosecutors, Salako between January and February 2022 obtained personal identifying information belonging to seven Alaska residents. He allegedly used the stolen data to gain unauthorized access to their “myAlaska” accounts, the state’s online portal used for applications to the annual PFD payout.

Once inside the system, he is said to have altered account settings to redirect notification emails and changed direct deposit details so that payments would be routed to bank accounts under his control.

To conceal his activities, prosecutors stated that Salako used a virtual private network (VPN) to disguise his location, making several applications appear as though they originated within Alaska. One attempt, however, was traced back to his location in Philadelphia.

The Alaska Department of Revenue’s Criminal Investigations Unit detected irregularities in all seven applications and blocked the transactions before any funds were paid out. In 2022, eligible residents received $3,284 each under the PFD programme. Authorities said the attempted fraud amounted to $22,988.

Federal investigators described the operation as premeditated and technically deliberate, but said it was ultimately unsuccessful due to built-in security checks.

Court records also show that Salako is serving a separate federal sentence in Colorado, where he received 78 months in prison after pleading guilty to wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy charges.

In that case, prosecutors said he acted as a domestic facilitator in an international fraud network that laundered more than $5 million in proceeds linked to COVID-19 relief programmes, including unemployment insurance and the Paycheck Protection Programme (PPP). The funds were allegedly routed to accounts connected to Nigeria and China.

He has also been ordered to pay $2.5 million in restitution to victims of the broader scheme.

Authorities said the concurrent sentences reflect ongoing efforts by U.S. law enforcement to combat cross-border financial crimes and protect public benefit systems from fraud.