{"id":6230,"date":"2020-02-03T00:40:38","date_gmt":"2020-02-03T00:40:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/ng\/?p=6230"},"modified":"2020-02-03T00:40:38","modified_gmt":"2020-02-03T00:40:38","slug":"shameful-nigerian-drug-queen-in-america-temitope-ayoni-olaiya-a-k-a-tammy-olaiya-recruits-youths-as-cocaine-couriers-to-brazil-defraud-u-s-govt-in-medicaid-health-scam-green-card-holder-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/shameful-nigerian-drug-queen-in-america-temitope-ayoni-olaiya-a-k-a-tammy-olaiya-recruits-youths-as-cocaine-couriers-to-brazil-defraud-u-s-govt-in-medicaid-health-scam-green-card-holder-in\/","title":{"rendered":"SHAMEFUL! Nigerian Drug Queen in America, TEMITOPE AYONI OLAIYA, a.k.a ‘Tammy Olaiya’ Recruits youths as Cocaine couriers to Brazil, Defraud U.S. Govt in Medicaid Health Scam…Green Card holder in Hyattsville, Maryland drives Lamborghini porch cars from proceed of crime *40-year-old woman helps couriers to travel to foreign countries to obtain drugs to bring back into the United States for sale * Assist drug mules in obtaining passports, visas and booked their travel arrangements * Lavishes $381,500 in fraudulent credit card, facing 10 years minimum jail term, to be deported after prison * \u201cTammy Olaiya is a \u2018triple threat\u2019 of criminality \u2013 drug trafficker, a fraudster, and a liar,\u201d said G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia * BY GEORGE ELIJAH OTUMU\/AMERICAN Foreign Bureau Chief"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\nSHAMEFUL!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nNigerian\nDrug Queen in America, TEMITOPE AYONI OLAIYA, a.k.a ‘Tammy Olaiya’\nRecruits youths as Cocaine couriers to Brazil, Defraud U.S. Govt in\nMedicaid Health Scam…Green Card holder in \nHyattsville, Maryland drives Lamborghini porch cars from proceed of\ncrime<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n *40-year-old\nwoman helps couriers to travel to foreign countries to obtain drugs\nto bring back into the United States for sale <\/strong>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n *\nAssist drug mules in obtaining passports, visas and booked their\ntravel arrangements<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

*\nLavishes\n$381,500 in fraudulent credit card, facing 10 years minimum jail\nterm, to be deported after prison <\/strong>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*\n\u201cTammy Olaiya is a \u2018triple\nthreat\u2019 of criminality \u2013 drug trafficker, a fraudster, and a\nliar,\u201d said G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern\nDistrict of Virginia<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n*\nBY GEORGE ELIJAH OTUMU\/AMERICAN Foreign Bureau Chief<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nTEMITOPE\nAYONI OLAIYA LIVES HER ENTIRE LIFE ON A FAST LANE. KNOWN IN AFRICAN\nCOMMUNITY in Maryland, United States of America as ‘Tammy Olaiya’ due\nto the manner she flaunt her illegally acquired wealth. She is\nrevered as a power broker with high connections, whereas latest\nrevelation of her criminality showed her as a drug empress. She\nattends parties in her Lamborghini vehicles. <\/strong>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This\nNigerian woman pleaded guilty recently to leading a conspiracy to\nimport more than five kilograms of cocaine, as well as to her role in\na separate bank fraud scheme, and to making false statements relating\nto fraudulent claims submitted to Medicaid for reimbursement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTammy\nOlaiya is a \u2018triple threat\u2019 of criminality \u2013 drug trafficker, a\nfraudster, and a liar,\u201d said G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney\nfor the Eastern District of Virginia. \u201cOlaiya, a Nigerian immigrant\nwho has spent the last two decades with the privilege of living in\nthe United States as lawful permanent resident, clearly has zero\nrespect for American laws pertaining to our borders, controlled\nsubstances, our financial system, or our health care system.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nAccording\nto court documents, Temitope Ayoni Olaiya, aka \u201cTammy\u201d, 40, a\nNigerian national residing in Hyattsville, Maryland, recruited men\nfrom the greater Washington, D.C. area to act as drug courier;i.e.<\/em>,\nto travel to foreign countries to obtain drugs to bring back into the\nUnited States. Olaiya opened bank accounts in the couriers\u2019 names,\nassisted them in obtaining passports and visas, and booked their\ntravel arrangements. The couriers that Olaiya recruited traveled\nprimarily to S\u00e3o Paulo, Brazil, where they picked up kilogram\nquantities of cocaine hidden in the lining of soft-sided briefcases\nor attach\u00e9 cases. Altogether, law enforcement seized nearly seven\nkilograms of cocaine at three different U.S. airports from three\nseparate couriers recruited by Olaiya.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEvery\nsingle Medicaid dollar is precious and must be carefully guarded,\u201d\nsaid Maureen R. Dixon, Special Agent in Charge for the Office of\nInspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human\nServices. \u201cAccordingly we will continue working with all our law\nenforcement partners to preserve these vital funds.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nIn\naddition to the cocaine importation scheme, Olaiya also submitted\nfalsified and fraudulent claims to the D.C. Department of Health Care\nFinance (DHCF), a health care benefit program funded by Medicaid.\nOlaiya worked as a personal care aide for various home health\nagencies in the Washington D.C. area, and in order to receive payment\nfor services rendered, Olaiya was required to submit timesheets\nsigned by her clients documenting the services rendered. Instead of\nsubmitting time sheets for time actually worked providing health care\nservices, Olaiya recruited Medicaid recipients to act as her\n\u201cpatients\u201d and to sign her falsified timesheets in return for a\nsmall amount of money as a kickback. On at least two occasions,\nOlaiya billed DHCF for home health services she claimed to have\nprovided while she was out of the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nSeparate\nand apart from the cocaine importation and the home health services\nscheme, Olaiya also used her African goods business in Maryland to\ncarry out a bank fraud. Olaiya used accounts with payment platforms\nSquare and Stripe to make fraudulent charges on stolen credit card\nnumbers. Between June and December 2017, Olaiya submitted, or caused\nto be submitted, $381,500 in fraudulent credit card charges to the\nStripe account. Thereafter, Olaiya switched over to Square, and in\nthe course of about two months, racked up more than $100,000 in\nfraudulent charges. When Square informed Olaiya that the true account\nholder had challenged the transaction, Olaiya created handwritten,\nfalsified invoices documenting items purportedly purchased by the\naccount holder, and provided the fake invoices to Square.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nOlaiya\npleaded guilty to conspiracy to import five kilograms or more of\ncocaine, bank fraud, and making false statements relating to health\ncare matters. She faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison for\nthe cocaine importation charge when sentenced on Feb. 28, 2020.\nActual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the\nmaximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any\nsentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and\nother statutory factors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nThis\ncase was prosecuted as part of Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task\nForce (OCDETF) Operation Girl From Ipanema. The OCDETF program is a\nfederal multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional task force that supplies\nsupplemental federal funding to federal and state agencies involved\nin the identification, investigation, and prosecution of major drug\ntrafficking organizations. The principal mission of the OCDETF\nprogram is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the most serious drug\ntrafficking, weapons trafficking, and money laundering organizations,\nand those primarily responsible for the nation\u2019s illegal drug\nsupply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nU.S.\nDistrict Judge Liam O\u2019Grady accepted the plea. Assistant U.S.\nAttorney Katherine E. Rumbaugh is prosecuting the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement\u2019s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington, D.C., and the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the DC Office of Inspector General provided significant assistance with the investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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