Meet Oba Joseph Oloyede, the Osun Monarch jailed for four years in the US over COVID-19 fraud

The Apetu of Ipetumodu, Oba Joseph Oloyede has been sentenced to four years and six months imprisonment by an American court for stealing millions of dollars from emergency COVID-19 relief programmes.

WITHIN NIGERIA learned that the 62-year-old monarch was sentenced by a US court for involving in a sophisticated fraud scheme targeting pandemic assistance funds.

Oloyede, a resident of Medina, Ohio who holds both American and Nigerian citizenship and lives in Medina masterminded a conspiracy to exploit emergency loan programmes designed to help struggling businesses during the corona virus crisis.

Here are 22 things you probably don’t know about convicted Oba Joseph Oloyede, the Apetu of Ipetumodu;

1. He was born on December 7, 1962
2. He attended Christ Church II for his elementary education in Ipetumodu
3. He attended C & S Modern Commercial Secondary School for his secondary education in Ipetumodu
4. He earned a National Diploma in Accountancy from The Polytechnic, Ibadan
5. He earned a Master of Business Administration from Enugu State University of Science and Technology
6. He later obtained another MBA from the University of Sarasota, Florida, United States
7. He was awarded a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) from Argosy University, Sarasota
8. He worked with financial institutions such as First Bank of Nigeria and John Holt Financial Merchant Bank before relocating to the U.S., where he continued his career in banking
9. He later transitioned into academia, teaching at Indiana Wesleyan University
10. He rose to the rank of professor at the University of Phoenix
11. He hails from the Aribile Ruling House of Latimogun Compound, Ipetumodu
12. He was selected among other candidates by the four-man kingmakers, a process that led to court cases challenging his emergence now resolved
13. He is a tax consultant
14. He is the 27th Apetu of Ipetumodu
15. He ascended the throne in November 2019 following the demise of Oba James Adedokun Adegoke in November 2017
16. He was promoted to Deputy Chairman of the Osun State Traditional Council on November 25, 2022
17. In April 2024, Oba Joseph Olugbenga Oloyede, along with a Nigerian pastor, Edward Oluwasanmi, was accused of perpetrating a $4.2 million COVID-19 fraud
18. He was arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, among other offenses
19. The traditional ruler on February 18, 2025 was released by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio after authorities seized his travel documents and set his bail at $20,000
20. The monarch on 21 April, 2025 pleaded guilty to the charges
21. On 26 August 27, 2025, Joseph Oloyede was sentenced to 56 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Christopher A. Boyko
22. He will also “serve three years of supervised release after imprisonment” and pay $4,408,543.38 in restitution among others