Governor Ademola Adeleke has removed Joseph Oloyede as the Apetu of Ipetumodu following the monarch’s conviction in the United States over a multi-million-dollar COVID-19 relief fraud scheme.
Gatekeepers News reports that the development was announced on Monday in a statement issued by Olawale Rasheed, spokesperson to the governor.
Oloyede was sentenced in August 2025 to 56 months in prison after being found guilty of defrauding the US government of about $4.2 million in COVID-19 relief funds.
According to Rasheed, the Osun State Government acted after receiving the certified true copy of the judgment delivered by the US court.
He explained that the state government had earlier directed the Ministry of Local Government Affairs to formally request the court documents from the United States authorities.
“In the Deposition Order signed by His Excellency on 7th May, 2026, the action was predicated on the need to maintain peace, order and good government as well as preserve the honour and integrity of the royal stool,” the statement said.
“The Deposition Order further stated that the fraudulent conduct of Oba Joseph Oloyede as found by the US court and which he pleaded guilty to and his public trial and conviction have brought the institution of Obaship and the stool of Apetumodu of Ipetumodu to disrepute and public odium, hence the resort to deposition.”
The statement further noted that the traditional stool has now been declared vacant pending the commencement of the process to appoint a new monarch.
“By this deposition, the stool of Apetumodu of Ipetumodu has been declared vacant while necessary process will be put in place to appoint a new Apetumodu of Ipetumodu at the appropriate time,” it added.
Details Of The Conviction
The monarch was convicted by the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio after pleading guilty to charges including wire fraud, filing false tax returns, and engaging in monetary transactions involving criminal proceeds.
Christopher Boyko, who presided over the case, sentenced Oloyede to 56 months imprisonment and ordered him to “serve three years of supervised release after imprisonment and pay $4,408,543 in restitution”.
According to the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio, Oloyede also forfeited his residence in Medina and $96,006 previously seized during investigations.
In April 2024, Oloyede was arrested alongside Edward Oluwasanmi over the COVID-19 fraud scheme.
Both men faced a 13-count charge bordering on conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering, and engaging in monetary transactions involving criminally derived property.
Court documents revealed that between April 2020 and February 2022, the duo allegedly submitted fraudulent applications for Paycheck Protection Programme (PPP) loans and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) using false business and tax information.
“During the investigation, agents found that Oloyede operated as a tax preparer and owned five businesses and one nonprofit. His co-defendant—and tax client—Oluwasanmi owned an additional three business entities; all were incorporated in Ohio,” the US government said.
“Both defendants used their businesses to submit loan applications using false information. They obtained approximately $1.2 million in SBA funds for Oluwasanmi’s entities and $1.7 million for Oloyede’s entities.”
The two defendants later entered plea bargain agreements with prosecutors.
Oluwasanmi was sentenced in July to 27 months imprisonment for his role in the fraud scheme.
