Nelly Yoa appears on right-wing US channel to share details of AFP raid

A man known for tall tales has appeared on US TV to claim he was targeted by police here due to anti-Joe Biden comments.

An Australian who has made headlines for spurious claims about his sporting prowess and connection to celebrities has appeared on US TV to make wild allegations about police Down Under.

Nelly Yoa popped up on right-wing news channel Real America’s Voice last week to reveal his suburban Melbourne home was raided by the Australian Federal Police (AFP), claiming it was over social media posts critical of Joe Biden’s administration.

Serial fantasist Mr Yoa made the sensational claims during a live interview with host Grant Stinchfield on March 19, in which he painted himself as a political victim.

The AFP has confirmed to news.com.au Mr Yoa’s Clayton home was searched this month “as part of an ongoing investigation”.

Nelly Yoa appearing on Real America's Voice. Picture: X

It is understood that the agency refutes Mr Yoa’s claims about the purpose of the search, and his account of “50 police officers” searching his house for “three hours”.

“Initially I was not at home, I left for work. My family were at home. They (police) knocked on the door around 9:30am” he told Real America’s Voice last week.

“Their guns were drawn, the door was sort of pushed in forcefully. And my whole family was afraid.

“It was something out of the movie.”

An AFP spokesperson confirmed on Thursday that a search of Mr Yoa’s home took place earlier this month. No charges were laid.

“The AFP attended a property in the Melbourne suburb of Clayton on 12 March, 2025, to execute a search warrant in relation to an ongoing investigation,” it said.

“Further comment will be made at an appropriate time.”

Mr Yoa, 36, told news.com.au he had “done nothing” and called the search “bizarre”. He said he was most concerned about how his family was treated. “I would expect this in South Sudan or Afghanistan but not Australia,” Mr Yoa said.

Nelly Yoa describes himself as an athlete, author and journalist. Picture: X

The Melburnian has become well-known in the Australian media for spreading tall tales about his life that were later discredited or brought into question.

Those included assertions he trialled for English football giant Chelsea, was sponsored by Nike, worked as an ambassador for American Express and that he was friends with Usain Bolt. Mr Yoa stands by his comments.

In his latest media appearance, this time on US TV, Mr Yoa said he was “gobsmacked” at the raid and claimed it was a reaction to posts he made on X criticising “Joe Biden-appointed cronies who are currently running the Australian Embassy”.

Mr Yoa went on to claim he had “been monitored” for four years due to his support for “the best president in history” Donald Trump, saying the raid was a “waste of taxpayer money”.

“The whole house was turned upside down. There was nothing taken. My phone was not confiscated,” he said.

“Basically the whole raid was for them to talk to me and to tell me to stop criticising Joe Biden on social media.”

Mr Yoa – styled as an “athlete, author and independent journalist” in the broadcast – also claimed the Australian media was “controlled by the government” and “too afraid to cover” what “should have been the biggest stories in Australia”.

Real America’s Voice, founded in 2020, is known to broadcast far-right conspiracy theories and its hosts include the likes of former Trump strategist Steve Bannon.

The segment in which Mr Yoa featured also included host Mr Stinchfield raging against Australia as “out of control”, citing “tyrannical policies” like the response to Covid.

“Anybody that embraces freedom, Australia doesn’t like,” he said.

Nelly Yoa holding a press conference in 2021. Picture: Jason Edwards

Mr Yoa made sporadic media appearances in newspapers and on Sunrise in the 2010s in which he spoke about being the victim of a 2011 machete attack which devastated a promising football career.

His profile rose when he featured on the front page of The Age newspaper at the height of the “African gangs” saga on New Year’s Day 2018

In an opinion piece he claimed to be mentoring gang members and said he was “ashamed to call myself Sudanese”.

His statements were questioned by local Sudanese community leaders who said they were unaware of Mr Yoa’s purported involvement in youth mentoring.

The Age later published a front-page apology as Mr Yoa’s life story was picked apart in the media.

Mr Yoa was in 2019 convicted of unrelated charges of perjury and making a false report in a Melbourne court, after making a grand entrance by emerging from a white limousine surrounded by hired security guards.

The court heard a forensic psychologist who consulted with Mr Yoa found he was “prone to fabrication … aimed at protecting a constructed public image”.

A few years later, in 2021, the Victorian government ordered a review after Mr Yoa was hired to work in the state’s hotel quarantine system during the pandemic.

News that he had been recruited for the sensitive job only emerged in a Ballarat court when he was convicted for unlawful assault.

In a 2023 interview with radio station SEN Mr Yoa claimed to be running an orphanage in Sudan and to have played a “minor part” in bringing Olympic sprinting legend Bolt to Australia.

The interview was pulled from SEN’s website with the broadcaster citing a “vetting” issue.

On his LinkedIn page, Mr Yoa claims he was nominated in January 2024 for the Australian of the Year Award “for his inspiring story of Resilience, Courage and Determination”.

He was not among the finalists for the award, however, news.com.au has confirmed he was nominated in both 2024 and 2025.

Nominations are open to the public.

Originally published as Nelly Yoa appears on right-wing US channel to share details of AFP raid