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Hongji Feng

Author

Hongji Feng

About Author

Hongji is a crypto and tech reporter. He graduated from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism with a Bachelor’s and a Master’s. He has previously interned at HTX (Huobi Global),…

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Last updated: 

June 26, 2025

A Nigerian national pleaded guilty in Boston federal court on June 25 to charges related to laundering funds obtained through online romance fraud, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts.

Charles Uchenna Nwadavid, 35, admitted to mail fraud and two counts of money laundering. Prosecutors said he controlled cryptocurrency accounts used to move victim funds and accessed them remotely from overseas. His sentencing is scheduled for September 23.

Romance Scam Money Laundering Network Tied to Crypto

According to court documents, the scheme ran from 2016 to 2019 and involved six U.S. victims. The individuals were recruited through social media and dating platforms and persuaded to send money under false pretenses, such as medical emergencies or legal fees.

Authorities said one Massachusetts victim unknowingly received funds from five others and then transferred the money to Nwadavid via cryptocurrency.

The transactions were processed through LocalBitcoins, an online peer-to-peer platform. Nwadavid allegedly directed the transfers while abroad using online access credentials.

He was indicted in January 2024 and arrested in April 2025 upon arrival at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport from the United Kingdom.

Security Company Accused of Moving $123M via Crypto

Australian authorities recently charged four people in connection with an alleged A$190 million (~US$123 million) laundering scheme involving cryptocurrency and a Gold Coast security firm. The group moved illicit funds through courier services and converted them into crypto, blending them with legitimate business revenue.

The network used dead drops in multiple cities and air transport to move cash into Queensland. Some of the funds were funneled through a car dealership and a sales promotion company.

Authorities seized around A$21 million (~US$13 million) in assets, including 17 properties and several vehicles, and carried out 14 search warrants in Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

Law enforcement agencies are expanding cross-border coordination and blockchain surveillance to track crypto-linked fraud. Peer-to-peer platforms and foreign exchanges often limit recovery, especially when victims are used to move funds unknowingly.

Authorities warn that enforcement tools are still catching up. While blockchain data offers visibility, gaps in regulation and technical capacity continue to hinder timely intervention.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Crypto platform Debiex has been ordered to pay around $2.5 million after it failed to respond to a US Commodity Futures Trading Commission suit accusing it of being a romance scam ring.

Arizona federal court Judge Douglas Rayes on March 13 granted the CFTC’s earlier motion for summary judgment in its case and ordered Debiex to pay back around $2.26 million it stole from its customers, along with a civil penalty of nearly $221,500.

Judge Rayes said there was no evidence that Debiex’s failure to respond to the CFTC was the result of “excusable neglect.”

The CFTC sued Debiex in January 2024, saying its staff ran a so-called “pig butchering” scam, where they initiated romantic relationships with customers over social media to gain trust to convince them to invest in the platform.

The scheme hooked five victims who deposited around $2.3 million in total onto Debiex, which the purported trading platform stole, the CFTC said.

The CFTC also accused Zhāng Chéng Yáng of being a “money mule” for Debiex, whose crypto wallets were used to accept and steal victims’ funds.

Judge Rayes granted a CFTC motion for default judgment against Zhāng on March 12, finding it adequately alleged he controls a crypto wallet with OKX “that received digital assets to which he had no legitimate claim.”

He said OKX was “voluntarily preserving” the crypto in Zhāng’s account and ordered its contents, consisting of $5.70 worth of Tether (USDT) and nearly 63 Ether (ETH) worth around $119,500, to be transferred to an unnamed victim.

The CFTC said in its January 2024 complaint that Debiex’s scheme saw its unknown managers target potential victims through social media to lure them to websites it had created marketing itself as a “Blockchain Network Decentralized perpetual contract trading platform” where users can conduct futures trading and “Mining transactions.”

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Debiex’s staff would present as females and built a rapport with victims through “continuous and repeated messaging and sharing purported pictures of themselves” while claiming to be “highly successful digital asset commodities traders,” the CFTC said.

Once an account was created and the customers sent over their crypto, the CFTC said Debiex would share “fictitious information” about customer balances, trading positions and profits.

“All of this information was most likely false,” the CFTC said. “The evidence shows that the Customers’ digital assets were simply sent to numerous digital asset wallets in an attempt to obfuscate their destination.”

Magazine: SEC’s U-turn on crypto leaves key questions unanswered 

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