America sells luxury wristwatch, necklace seized from jailed Nigerian official

Authorities in the United States have auctioned a luxury wristwatch and a necklace owned by Abidemi Rufai, a former Ogun State official who served a jail term in the U.S., PREMIUM TIMES can exclusively report.

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The United States District Court for Western Tacoma in Washington jailed Abidemi Rufai on 26 September 2022 for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.

With the stolen identities, he attempted to steal nearly $2.4 million from the United States government, including approximately $500,000 in pandemic-related unemployment benefits, court documents said.

Mr Rufai, who pleaded guilty to the charges, succeeded in defrauding 12 US agencies of $600,000 paid into bank accounts controlled by him.

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Based on his plea agreement with the prosecution, Mr Rufai agreed to pay the defrauded agencies the full restitution of $604,260.

The U.S. government has now sold two valuable items recovered from him during his arrest – a Cartier watch and a gold chain necklace. The sale was made in December 2022, but PREMIUM TIMES has just become aware of the development.

“The Judgment entered in this case directed the United States to sell in a commercially reasonable manner a Cartier watch and a gold chain necklace that it seized from Defendant Abidemi Rufai during his arrest and apply the net proceeds to Defendant’s $604,460 judgment debt,” Nicholas Brown, a U.S. Attorney, said in a court filing.

“The United States sold the watch and necklace via online auction through Gaston & Sheehan Auctioneers, Appraisers, and Realty. The winning bids for the watch and necklace were $4,720.00 and $3,160.00, respectively.

“After payment of $64.41 shipping expenses and $728.90 (9.25 per cent) sales commission, the net proceeds were $7,086.69.

“As instructed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Gaston & Sheehan sent the net proceeds to the Clerk of this Court via cheque. The Clerk received and processed the payment on December 20, 2022, applying $200.00 to Defendant’s special assessment and $6,886.69 to his restitution balance.”

After deducting that sum from his restitution payment, Abidemi Rufai remains indebted to the U.S. government for $597,573.31.

The former Ogun State official was released from prison in mid-November 2024, but his whereabouts remain unknown. He will most likely be deported to Nigeria.