BOSTON – A Nigerian national has been charged in connection with a multi-million dollar romance scam that defrauded six victims and laundered the stolen funds through cryptocurrency accounts.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 34-year-old Charles Uchenna Nwadavid of Abuja, Nigeria, was arrested on Monday at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport after arriving from the United Kingdom. He was indicted by a federal grand jury in Boston on charges of mail fraud and money laundering. Nwadavid appeared in federal court in Fort Worth, Texas, and was ordered held pending further proceedings in Boston.
Prosecutors say Nwadavid orchestrated romance scams between 2016 and 2019, in which victims were tricked into sending money overseas under false romantic pretenses. Using fake online profiles, scammers built trust with victims and then fabricated urgent needs—such as hospital bills or securing an inheritance—to solicit money.
To hide his involvement, Nwadavid allegedly used a Massachusetts victim, referred to as Victim 1, to receive and process funds from five other individuals across the U.S. He then instructed Victim 1 to convert the money into cryptocurrency and transfer it to accounts he controlled on platforms like LocalBitcoins. Nwadavid also allegedly accessed Victim 1’s accounts from abroad to facilitate these transactions.
If convicted, Nwadavid faces up to 20 years in prison for each charge of mail fraud and money laundering, along with fines, restitution, forfeiture of assets, and eventual deportation. Sentencing will be determined by a federal district court judge based on U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.
