Adepoju Babatunde Salako, the Philadelphia coordinator for the pro-Tinubu support group “Relax Tinubu Is Fixing Nigeria (Promises to Progress),” was recently sentenced to 18 months in a U.S. federal prison.
The sentencing, which occurred in May 2026, stems from a fraud scheme targeting the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) program. Salako targeted the Alaska Department of Revenue’s PFD program, which provides annual payments to eligible Alaska residents.
He used stolen Personal Identifying Information (PII) to submit seven fraudulent applications. He gained unauthorized access to “myAlaska” online accounts, changed bank details to his own, and created fake email addresses to intercept correspondence.
Salako used a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to make his internet traffic appear as if it originated from within Alaska, though investigators eventually traced one application back to his real IP address in Philadelphia.
The Alaska Department of Revenue flagged the applications before any funds were released. Had the scheme succeeded, he would have diverted approximately $22,988.
The 18-month sentence will run concurrently with a much larger sentence Salako is already serving. He was previously sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison for a separate international money laundering scheme and COVID-19 relief fraud.
In the Colorado case, he was ordered to pay $2.5 million in restitution to his victims.
Official Reaction
U.S. Attorney Michael J. Heyman for the District of Alaska stated that the sentence reflects a commitment to protecting government programs from exploitation, noting that Salako had never even set foot in Alaska until he was brought there for his sentencing.
While Salako held a leadership role in a Philadelphia-based support group for the Nigerian President, the crimes for which he was convicted were entirely centered on U.S. financial fraud and identity theft.
