The lawyer to Dapo Abiodun’s aide, Abidemi Rufai has said his client was not a flight risk.
Speaking on the $350,000 fraud allegations against client, Michael Barrows said if granted bail, he (Rufai) “doesn’t represent a flight risk, in part because he has given up his passport.”
Rufai, an aide to Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State, has spoken on his alleged involvement in a $350,000 COVID-19 unemployment fraud. The suspect was arrested by officials of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), while trying to travel out of the U.S. on May 14.
His attorney, Michael Barrows of Garden City, New York, said Rufai denied “involvement in these transactions.”
The lawyer argued that his client could be “prevented from fleeing through less restrictive means than having him remain in jail, including travel restrictions and electronic surveillance.”
Barrows said those with more grievous allegations are released on self-recognisance.
“You have white-collar criminals [such as] insider traders who steal millions of dollars who are released on their own recognizance.”
Rufai is scheduled for a detention hearing today. He is said to have violated Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343 (wire fraud).
He would face up to 30 years in prison, if found guilty.
