An Abuja-based businessman, Charles Nwadavid, who is facing trial in the United States over his alleged involvement in a $2.5 million fraud, is scheduled to be sentenced on September 23, 2025.
The sentencing date was set after Nwadavid pleaded guilty to ‘mail fraud, aiding and abetting money laundering, and money laundering’ before a district court, according to a statement obtained from the US Department of Justice on Sunday.
PUNCH Metro 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.
According to court documents, he was alleged to have participated in romance scams that tricked victims into sending money abroad between 2016 and 2019.
It added, “To conceal the ultimate recipient of the victims’ funds, a victim from Massachusetts was tricked into receiving funds from five other victims around the United States.
“The victim then passed the funds to Nwadavid through a series of cryptocurrency transactions.
“Nwadavid repeatedly accessed accounts in the victim’s name from overseas to transfer the victim’s funds to accounts he controlled at LocalBitcoins, an online cryptocurrency platform.”
Giving an update on the trial, the US DoJ noted that Nwadavid pleaded guilty to the offences on Thursday and has now been scheduled for sentencing on September 23, 2025.
It read, “A Nigerian national pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Boston to his involvement in the theft of more than $2.5 million from six romance scam victims by transferring their money to cryptocurrency accounts that he controlled.
“Charles Uchenna Nwadavid, 35, of Abuja, Nigeria, pleaded guilty to mail fraud, aiding and abetting money laundering, and money laundering. U.S. District Court Judge Leo T. Sorokin scheduled sentencing for Sept. 23, 2025.”
The statement added that Nwadavid now risks a jail term of 40 years, a $750,000 fine, and possible deportation for the offences he pleaded guilty to.
“The mail fraud charge provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the loss to the victim, restitution, and forfeiture.
“The money laundering charges provide for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $500,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the laundering transactions, restitution, and forfeiture.
“The defendant is subject to deportation upon completion of any sentence imposed,” according to the US Sentencing Guidelines.
PUNCH.
