Reported by: Ijeoma .G | Edited by: Henry Owen
A United States District Court in Anchorage, Alaska has sentenced Nigerian national Adepoju Babatunde Salako, 33, to 18 months in federal prison after finding him guilty of involvement in a wire fraud scheme targeting Alaska’s Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) programme.
The sentence was handed down on Tuesday, May 21, 2026, following proceedings at the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska, where prosecutors detailed how Salako participated in fraudulent applications submitted under the 2022 PFD cycle.
According to court findings, the offence occurred in early 2022 when Salako, who was residing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, gained access to personal information belonging to multiple Alaska residents and used it to submit false applications for state dividend payments. Investigators told the court that he manipulated online accounts linked to the victims and attempted to redirect benefit payments into accounts under his control.
The Permanent Fund Dividend programme, which distributes annual payments from Alaska’s oil revenue trust fund to eligible residents, became the target of the scheme after the defendant allegedly exploited weaknesses in the digital application system. Authorities said the fraudulent applications were detected before any payments were released, preventing financial loss to the state.
Prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Alaska, working alongside the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Alaska Department of Revenue, said digital forensic analysis helped trace the activity back to Salako’s location in Pennsylvania. He was later charged and prosecuted under federal wire fraud statutes.
Court records indicate that Salako pleaded guilty prior to sentencing as part of a plea agreement with federal prosecutors. The judge imposed an 18-month custodial sentence, taking into account the scale of the attempted fraud and his involvement in the submission of multiple false claims.
Authorities in Alaska described the case as part of ongoing efforts to protect public benefit programmes from identity theft and online fraud, noting that the PFD system is a high-value target for cyber-enabled financial crimes due to its universal eligibility structure and automated processing.
Salako is expected to serve his sentence in a federal correctional facility in the United States, with officials confirming that he had already been in custody prior to the final ruling. No additional restitution amount was ordered in relation to the Alaska claims since the fraudulent payments were intercepted before disbursement.
U.S. prosecutors emphasized that wire fraud remains a serious federal offence, particularly when electronic communication systems are used to facilitate identity theft and financial deception across state or international lines. The conviction also reflects broader enforcement actions targeting fraud schemes involving public funds and digital benefit platforms.
Authorities in Alaska have continued to strengthen verification systems for the Permanent Fund Dividend programme in recent years, introducing enhanced identity checks and monitoring tools to reduce fraudulent applications and protect legitimate beneficiaries.
As of the time of sentencing, federal officials confirmed that the case had been fully adjudicated in Alaska, with Salako already subject to additional legal proceedings in another U.S. jurisdiction involving unrelated financial crime allegations.
📩 Stone Reporters News | 🌍 stonereportersnews.com
✉️ info@stonereportersnews.com | 📘 Facebook: Stone Reporters News | 🐦 X (Twitter): @StoneReportNew | 📸 Instagram: @stonereportersnews
Add comment
Comments