Five Nigerian fraudsters jailed 129 years in US for stealing $17m

A Pennsylvania-based Nigerian national, Adepoju Babatunde Salako, has been charged with multiple counts of fraud offences over a nationwide COVID-19 employment benefit scheme that netted him more than $5.6 million.

According to the prosecutors, Mr Salako defrauded more than 30 American states, using over 1,000 stolen identities to file for fraudulent COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loans to the Small Business Administration and for unemployment insurance benefits between July 2020 and July 2021.

The indictment also alleged that between January 2021 and March 2021, the 32-year-old stole over $16,000 from the Colorado Department of Labour and Employment by using the personal information of the state residents he found on websites such as TruthFinder to apply for 15 separate fraudulent unemployment benefit claims.

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Similarly, Mr Salako and his co-conspirators proceeded to other states, including Maryland, Minnesota, New Hampshire, and New York, where they applied for at least 10 more fraudulent COVID-19 benefits claims using fake identities, stealing another significant amount from government institutions in the process, the prosecutors said.

In Nevada, the defendant allegedly submitted another fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program loan application in the name of Turn-Turn-Turn Woodturning, using the stolen identity of a resident in the state.

Authorities said Mr Salako and his co-conspirators stole close to $6 million from various government departments within one year of operation, which the syndicate were able to move through several intermediate accounts using various methods.

They eventually lavished the money on expensive lifestyles or transferred it overseas as currency or in the form of goods such as cars or solar panels.

Mr Salako made his initial appearance in Colorado on June 13, 2025, before Magistrate Judge Scott Varholak of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado.

He faces more than 20 years in prison.

Five Nigerian fraudsters jailed 129 years in US for stealing $17m

15 killed, 75 injured in major Russian attack on Ukraine

No fewer than 15 people were killed and 75 others injured in Russian missile and drone strikes on Ukraine overnight Tuesday, Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said in a statement.

The capital Kiev was hit hardest in the attack, where a ballistic missile struck a nine-story apartment building, killing 14 people and injuring 60 others, Interfax-Ukraine news agency cited the minister as saying.

In the southern city of Odessa, one person was killed and 10 others injured.

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15 killed, 75 injured in major Russian attack on Ukraine

Netanyahu says killing Iran’s supreme leader would end conflict

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday did not rule out plans to eliminate Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, saying it would “end the conflict” between the two arch-enemies.

In a 20-minute interview with US network ABC News, Israel’s leader claimed that his country’s lethal aggression to “defang” Iran was acceptable, comparing Khamenei to a “modern Hitler”.

When asked about accusations that US President Donald Trump vetoed an Israeli plan to assassinate the supreme leader due to concerns that it would intensify the Iran-Israel conflict, Netanyahu dismissed the claims.

“It’s not going to escalate the conflict; it’s going to end the conflict,” he said.

“The ‘forever war’ is what Iran wants, and they’re bringing us to the brink of nuclear war,” Netanyahu said.

“In fact, what Israel is doing is preventing this, bringing an end to this aggression, and we can only do so by standing up to the forces of evil.”

Netanyahu did not specify whether Israel was targeting the ayatollah, saying simply, “We’re doing what we need to do.”

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Netanyahu has maintained an uncompromising stance while Israel launches punitive strikes against Iran and the Islamic Republic responds with volleys of missile fire.

In an effort to engage with his country’s main ally, the prime minister has given long American media interviews twice in as many days, presenting Israel’s struggle with Iran as “a battle of civilisation against barbarism”.

He emphasised Monday that Americans should be profoundly concerned about Iran’s aspirations to develop a nuclear bomb as well as its growing ballistic missile capacity.

“Today it’s Tel Aviv; tomorrow it’s New York,” Netanyahu told ABC correspondent Jon Karl.

Netanyahu berated Khamenei’s “anti-Semitic, mad fanaticism” and support for proxy attacks aimed at “snuffing out the life” of Israel.

“He’s like a modern Hitler. He just will not stop, but we’re going to make sure that he doesn’t have the means to carry out his threats.”

In defending Israel’s comprehensive attacks, Netanyahu claimed that delaying Iran’s nuclear development is “preventing the most horrific war imaginable and… bringing peace to the Middle East”.

“That will be possible if Iran is defanged,” he added.

Netanyahu says killing Iran’s supreme leader would end conflict