A United States District Court has sentenced an Abuja-based businessman, Charles Nwadavid, to two years’ imprisonment following his conviction for over $2 million fraud, with an order that he be deported upon the completion of his jail term.
Diaspora Tales learnt this from a statement obtained from the US Department of Justice on Friday.
The PUNCH had reported in April that 35-year-old Nwadavid was arrested upon his arrival in the US via a United Kingdom flight to Dallas–Fort Worth International Airport.
Before his arrest, a federal grand jury in Boston had, in 2024, indicted him on charges of mail fraud and money laundering.
The indictment noted, “A victim from Massachusetts was tricked into receiving funds from victims around the United States and then passed the funds to Nwadavid through a series of cryptocurrency transactions.
“Nwadavid repeatedly accessed accounts in the victims’ name from overseas, to transfer the victims’ funds to accounts he controlled at LocalBitcoins, an online cryptocurrency platform.”
Following months of trial, Nwadavid pleaded guilty to the offences in June, and the sentencing date was set for September.
Giving an update on the trial, the US DoJ noted that the defendant was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment by Judge Leo Sorokin.
The judge also ordered that Nwadavid pay the sum of $2,724,810.41 in restitution.
Similarly, the judge ordered that the convict be deported upon the completion of his jail term.
“Charles Uchenna Nwadavid, 35, of Abuja, Nigeria, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Leo T. Sorokin to two years in prison, to be followed by one year of supervised release. Nwadavid was also ordered to pay $2,724,810.41 in restitution.
“The defendant is subject to deportation upon completion of the imposed sentence.”
Nwadavid is not the first Nigerian to be arrested and sentenced in the US for fraud.
It was reported in November 2024 that an elected chairman of Ogbaru Local Government Area in Anambra State, Franklin Nwadialo, was arrested in Texas, United States, for allegedly running a $3.3 million romance scam.
The DoJ had stated that Nwadialo would be transferred to the Western District of Washington for arraignment, adding that he faces a 14-count charge and could face a 20-year sentence if found guilty
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