The Kentucky Sentate gavel rests on the wooden sound block in the Kentucky Senate chambers before the first day of Concurrence began at the state Capitol in Frankfort, Ky. March 13, 2025.
Los Angeles, California – A Pasadena man was sentenced Tuesday to 135 months in federal prison for orchestrating a sprawling scheme to defraud California and Nevada out of more than $1.3 million in COVID-19 unemployment and disability benefits — money that prosecutors say he used to fund the construction of a luxury resort in Nigeria.
Abiola Femi Quadri, 43, was also ordered by U.S. District Judge George H. Wu to pay $1,356,229 in restitution and a $35,000 fine. In January, Quadri pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, admitting to filing more than 100 fraudulent benefit applications using stolen identities at the height of the pandemic.
Quadri, a Nigerian citizen who had acquired permanent U.S. residency through what court records describe as a “fake wedding,” withdrew the stolen funds at ATMs throughout Southern California between 2021 and his arrest in September 2024. He was taken into custody at Los Angeles International Airport while preparing to board a flight to Nigeria. By that time, he had already wired at least $500,000 overseas and funneled those funds into constructing a 120-room resort hotel in Nigeria — the Oyins International — complete with a nightclub, shopping mall, and upscale amenities.
According to prosecutors, Quadri failed to disclose his ownership of the resort on court-mandated financial documents, a move they described as part of a broader pattern of deception.
Evidence collected during the investigation revealed the extent of the fraud. Agents recovered images on Quadri’s phone showing 17 counterfeit checks totaling over $3.3 million, many made out to shell companies under aliases he controlled. Investigators also found misappropriated food-aid debit cards at his residence — cards assigned to developmentally disabled children enrolled in daycare services through his Altadena-based business, Rock of Peace.
The state of California had contracted Rock of Peace to provide care for these children, even as Quadri was exploiting their identities for personal gain. Prosecutors say the combination of exploiting public benefit programs, misusing the identities of vulnerable individuals, and secretly funding a luxury property abroad paints a stark portrait of opportunism in a time of national crisis.
The investigation, led by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Homeland Security Investigations, and California’s Employment Development Department (EDD), uncovered a scheme that federal officials say reflects a deeper vulnerability in the emergency aid system hastily assembled during the pandemic.
While Quadri’s sentencing closes one chapter in a long list of pandemic-era fraud cases, it also raises broader questions about how systemic weaknesses were exploited, and whether measures put in place now are enough to prevent the next wave of opportunistic crimes during future emergencies.
