ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – A Pennsylvania man has been indicted on seven counts of wire fraud in connection with an alleged scheme to steal Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend payments, federal prosecutors said Tuesday. He could face up to $1.75 million in fines if convicted.<\/p>\n
According to the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office, District of Alaska, Adepoju Babatunde Salako, 33, of Philadelphia, fraudulently obtained personal information belonging to Alaska residents and used it to submit seven applications for dividend checks between January and February 2022. Authorities said Salako has never lived in Alaska or traveled to the state.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors say Salako created new email accounts to take control of \u201cmyAlaska\u201d online profiles, which residents can use to apply for the dividend. He is accused of changing contact and banking information so payments would be redirected to accounts he controlled.<\/p>\n
The Attorney\u2019s Office says Salako tried to conceal his location by submitting six of his applications through a virtual private network showing Alaska-based IP addresses. Another application was submitted from a Philadelphia IP address tied to his personal email account, investigators said.<\/p>\n
The State of Alaska flagged the applications as fraudulent and denied them.<\/p>\n
If convicted, Salako faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count of wire fraud. Sentencing will be determined by a federal judge.<\/p>\n