Nigerian Man Sentenced in U.S. Over Alaska Dividend Fraud Scheme

A Nigerian man based in Pennsylvania, Adepoju Babatunde Salako, has been sentenced to 18 months in prison in the United States after pleading guilty to wire fraud connected to a scheme targeting Alaska’s Permanent Fund Dividend program.

According to court documents, Salako admitted to carrying out a fraud operation in 2022 involving the unauthorized use of personal information belonging to several Alaska residents.

Investigators said the scheme took place between January and February 2022, during which seven fraudulent applications were submitted for Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend payments.

Authorities revealed that Salako allegedly obtained sensitive personal details belonging to victims and used the information to create email accounts linked to them. He then accessed their “myAlaska” online accounts and reportedly altered contact and banking information in an attempt to redirect state payments into accounts under his control.

Officials further disclosed that he used a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to conceal his actual location and make the fraudulent applications appear as though they originated from Alaska. However, investigators later traced portions of the online activity to Philadelphia.

The fraud attempt was eventually detected by the Alaska Department of Revenue before any payments were released.

Authorities estimated that the attempted scheme could have resulted in losses totaling nearly $23,000 to both the state and affected individuals if it had succeeded. Salako pleaded guilty to seven counts of wire fraud related to the case.

The 18-month sentence will reportedly run concurrently with an existing prison sentence from a separate case in Colorado, where Salako had already been sentenced to six and a half years in prison for COVID-19 relief fraud and international money laundering offenses involving approximately $2.5 million in restitution.

Reacting to the case, U.S. Attorney Michael J. Heyman said the defendant spent considerable time planning and executing the fraud attempt, emphasizing that efforts to exploit the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend system would not be tolerated.

He also praised the investigative work of the Alaska Department of Revenue and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), noting that their intervention prevented financial losses from occurring.

The case highlights ongoing concerns among U.S. authorities regarding cyber-enabled fraud, identity theft, and online financial crimes targeting government benefit programs.

As digital fraud schemes continue evolving globally, law enforcement agencies have increasingly focused on strengthening cybersecurity measures and prosecuting individuals involved in sophisticated online financial crimes.