Owasso man sentenced to prison in COVID-19 business loan scam | Crime News
An Owasso male has been sentenced to federal prison just after a jury uncovered him responsible of four criminal counts connected to a rip-off to receive bogus COVID-19 smaller-business enterprise loans.
U.S. District Judge Claire V. Eagan sentenced Olusola Ojo, 43, to prison phrases totaling 4 decades followed by five decades of supervised release.
Eagan also requested Ojo to fork out $150,000 in restitution and spend a $400 evaluation.
“The U.S. Attorney’s Business continues to pursue justice in instances where fraudsters bilk American taxpayers of funds intended to guidance vulnerable compact-company proprietors and their workforce,” said U.S. Lawyer Clint Johnson. “Olusola Ojo’s four-year prison sentence need to deliver a information that white-collar criminals will be held accountable for their illicit behavior.”
A Tulsa federal courtroom jury in November discovered Ojo responsible of two counts of bank fraud and just one rely every of conspiracy to dedicate bank fraud and aggravated id theft.
Ojo was named together with two many others in a collection of grand jury indictments dating again to July 2020 that concerned above $5 million in modest-company Paycheck Safety Method loans.
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The indictments alleged that Ojo and a co-defendant, Ibanga Etuk, conspired to commit lender fraud concerning April 1 and Aug. 4, 2020.
The defendants developed 18 firms that fraudulently used for Paycheck Security Program loans under untrue pretenses these types of as the quantity of personnel, payroll expenses, taxes compensated all through earlier months, aspects of enterprise possession and a wrong illustration of their romance with just one yet another, court docket filings alleged.
Etuk and his spouse, Teosha Etuk, who was charged afterwards, have currently pleaded responsible to crimes connected to their part in the scheme.
Ibanga Etuk was sentenced to provide 4 several years in jail. His spouse was produced April 22 just after serving a 12-thirty day period, a single-day prison expression, according to on line U.S. Bureau of Prison data.