The Federal Bureau of Investigation has arrested an Abuja-based businessman for swindling American citizens in a years-long scheme that netted him $2.5 million. 

Court documents seen by Peoples Gazette said Uchenna Charles Nwadavid of construction giant Nec Bullion Concept was arrested as he touched down in the United States on April 7. Authorities said he arrived at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport via London. 

Mr Nwadavid, 34, did not know that a criminal grand jury indictment had been pending against him for more than a year when he flew to the U.S. He was immediately taken into custody by authorities, who had been tipped off about his itinerary. 

Mr Nwadavid made an initial appearance in a federal court in northern Texas on April 8. However, it was not immediately clear when he would appear before a federal judge in Massachusetts. A spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Boston, where Mr Nwadavid would face trial, did not immediately return a request seeking comments. 

The Nigerian businessman, who also runs the Nec Bullion Foundation with his brother and politician Emmanuel Chijioke Nwadavid, could spend up to 40 years in prison if convicted on internet fraud and money laundering counts, authorities said. Emmanuel Nwadavid, who works with President Bola Tinubu’s tech minister and certificate forger Uche Nnaji, did not return a message from The Gazette seeking comments about his brother’s arrest.

The grand jury did not establish when Mr Nwadavid started defrauding Americans online, but the deal that landed him in trouble appeared to have occurred between 2016 and 2019, when he reportedly targeted women online and used them as money mules for his nefarious activities. 

A large chunk of the $2.5 million was traced to Mr Nwadavid’s cryptocurrency accounts, officials said. At least six victims living in Massachusetts, Florida, New Jersey and Kansas were identified and convinced by authorities to give testimony to the grand jury, which returned an indictment on January 23, 2024. 

Mr Nwadavid, a native of Enugu State, was held barely five months after American authorities arrested another Nigerian, Franklin Nwadialo, when he landed at Houston airport from Nigeria. Mr Nwadialo was the incumbent chairman of a local government area in Anambra at the time of his arrest on similar romance scam charges involving more than $3 million. He was transported to Seattle, Washington, to stand trial.