An image showing a group of security operatives escorting a suspect in a blue native outfit has been used by many Nigerian news platforms to depict the recent arrest of a Nigerian man, Yomi Jones Olayeye, in the United States over $10 million pandemic unemployment assistance fraud scheme.
The image showed the handcuffed suspect, walking in between security agents who wore uniforms labelled FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) on their back.
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A statement by the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts said Olayeye a.k.a. “Sabbie,” from Lagos was arrested upon arriving at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York on August 13, 2024.
An X account, @TrendingEx posted the image with a caption that read:
“Just In: FBI arrests Yomi Olayeye over $10million COVID scam (Benefit Boys).”
The post has garnered more than 400,000 views, with over 600 reposts and more than 1,900 likes as of August 21, 2024.
Another X account, @NigeriaStories posted the image with a similar caption thus:
“JUST IN: A Nigerian Yomi Olayeye has been arrested for stealing $10 million in US unemployment benefits.”
The post has garnered over 3 million views in addition to over 4,900 reposts and more than 19,000 likes as of August 21, 2024.
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Nigeria-based Punch newspaper also captioned the image as “Nigerian Arrested For Stealing $10 Million in US Unemployment Benefits.”
CLAIM
Image shows a Nigerian man recently arrested over fraud in the United States.
THE FINDINGS
Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is MISLEADING, as the image has been online since 2019.
Our fact-checker subjected the viral image to a Google reverse image search and the result shows that the image has been online since 2019.
An earlier version of the image found in reports by the Los Angeles Times and Daily Mail revealed that it shows the moment a suspect was arrested in a downtown Los Angeles parking lot after pre-dawn raids that saw dozens of people arrested on August 22, 2019.
The unidentified suspect was among the 80 suspects (mostly Nigerians) of an international crime ring accused of ‘stealing at least $46 million through email scams and fake online romances’ in a sophisticated operation spanning from Los Angeles to Nigeria.
They were accused of using various online fraud schemes – including business email compromise (BEC) frauds, romance scams, and schemes targeting the elderly – to defraud victims of millions of dollars.
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The full list of 77 members of the crime ring was published by Nigeria-based Premium Times same August 2019.
The FactCheckHub reviewed the list but we couldn’t find the name of Olayeye on it – a possible indication that the two incidents are unconnected.
THE VERDICT
The claim that the image shows the recent arrest of a Nigerian man, Yomi Olayeye, in the United States over fraud is MISLEADING; the image depicts an incident that occurred in 2019.
Nurudeen Akewushola is a fact-checker with FactCheckHub. He has authored several fact checks which have contributed to the fight against information disorder. You can reach him via [email protected] and @NurudeenAkewus1 via Twitter.
