A United States court has sentenced Philadelphia resident Adepoju Babatunde Salako to 18 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to wire fraud charges linked to a 2022 identity theft operation involving Alaska’s Permanent Fund Dividend programme.
Court filings show that Salako, 33, who was identified as the Philadelphia coordinator of a pro-Tinubu group, used stolen personal data belonging to Alaska residents to submit fraudulent benefit claims under the state’s Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) scheme.
Between January and February 2022, prosecutors said he filed seven applications using the identities of legitimate residents. The aim was to divert government payments into bank accounts he controlled.
Investigators stated that Salako accessed at least seven “myAlaska” accounts tied to the victims. He allegedly altered account recovery details, redirected official notifications to email addresses he created, and changed banking information to enable fraudulent payouts.
Court records also indicate he created multiple fake email accounts linked to the stolen identities and used a VPN to obscure the origin of the activity. Six of the applications were made to appear as though they originated from Alaska-based IP addresses, while one was traced directly to Philadelphia.
The Alaska Department of Revenue flagged inconsistencies in the applications before any funds were released. Each eligible PFD payment in 2022 was valued at $3,284, placing the attempted loss at approximately $22,988.
Salako pleaded guilty to seven counts of wire fraud. The sentence will run concurrently with an earlier six-and-a-half-year prison term imposed in Colorado for separate offences involving COVID-19 relief fraud and international money laundering. He was also ordered to pay $2.5 million in restitution in that case.
U.S. Attorney Michael J. Heyman said the defendant invested significant effort in executing the scheme but was stopped before any payment was made.
FBI officials also confirmed that investigative cooperation between the agency and Alaska’s Department of Revenue led to the identification and prosecution of the case. Matthew Schlegel said the programme was designed for eligible residents and not for exploitation through identity theft.
Officials from the Alaska Department of Revenue added that internal safeguards and investigative review systems played a key role in preventing financial loss. Scott Stair also warned that identity theft involving public benefit systems would continue to be prosecuted.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ainsley McNerney and investigated jointly by the FBI Anchorage Field Office and the Alaska Department of Revenue’s Criminal Investigations Unit.
