Brother refuses to serve as custodian, as court orders Abidemi Rufai detained pending trial 

Ramon Reyes, a Magistrate Judge for Eastern District of New York, has ordered that a Nigerian politician arrested for wire fraud, Abidemi Rufai, be detained until his trial because his brother refused to serve as his third-party custodian.

He will now be transported to the Western District of Washington where his trial will commence, the U.S Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington told Neusroom in an email on Wednesday.

The Magistrate gave the order at the detention hearing today, Wednesday, May 19, 2021, five days after Rufai’s arrest in the U.S for allegedly defrauding the Washington State Employment Security Department of over $350,000 under the alias Sandy Tang.

Prosecutors with the U.S Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington in court papers filed on Tuesday and sent to Neusroom had urged the magistrate to keep Rufai in custody until his trial in a federal court in Washington because he presents an extreme risk to flight and could use his strong political ties in Nigeria to flee from the U.S.

In the court document exclusively obtained by Neusroom, prosecutors listed six arguments against the request for the release of Rufai.

Emily Langlie, Communications Director for the U.S. Attorney’s Office Western District of Washington told Neusroom on Wednesday that initially, the Magistrate Judge was prepared to release Rufai to the third-party custody of his brother Alaba Rufai, who is a New York attorney.

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“His brother who had tentatively agreed to serve as third-party custodian, backed out in court when asked if he (Alaba) could post a $300,000 surety bond, payable in the event that Abidemi Rufai did not show up in court,” the Attorney’s office said. “The government indicated it would appeal that ruling to a federal district judge in Western District of Washington. However, before the government needed to take that step, Mr. Rufai’s brother indicated he could not serve as the third-party custodian.”

Emily said the detention order is considered permanent until such time as a future hearing is held in the Western District of Washington.

“The timing on prisoner transport is up to the U.S. Marshal Service, and we will only know the timing of the next hearing when the defendant arrives in the district.  Sometimes that takes as long as two to three weeks,” the spokesperson said.