California man charged with committing fraud to obtain more than $1 million in pandemic relief

A California man was charged Friday with committing fraud to obtain more than $1 million in unemployment benefits for those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California, a criminal complaint alleges that Idowu Hashim Shittu, 46, used the personal information of other people to apply for pandemic-related benefits from multiple state agencies between March and July 2020.

In the first such instance, according to the release, Shittu allegedly requested unemployment benefits in May 2020 from the Washington State Employment Security Department (ESD) under the name, date of birth and Social Security number of a Washington resident. The ESD responded to the request by depositing $9,000 into an account.

An investigation then revealed that the account was used by someone in California, according to the release. The Washington resident said they had not been in California at any time that year, while a person fitting Shittu’s description was allegedly seen on camera using an ATM to withdraw money from the account.

The release also detailed two more instances of the Washington ESD issuing benefits to residents of the state and the money subsequently being withdrawn from California ATMs.

Shittu has been charged with three counts of fraud and faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison for each count, in addition to fines and other penalties, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Shittu is next scheduled to appear in court on Monday.