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Middlesex County resident Adrian Kawuba, of Watertown, age 34, was sentenced to 27 months in prison for taking part in a $2.2 million scheme to defraud investors into financing what they thought were youth sports ventures in Africa, the US Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts announced on Thursday, April 11.
According to federal officials, Kawuba would tell victims that he would invest their money into short-term financing of youth sports ventures in Africa and other locations and personally guarantee their investments.
However, Kawuba did not invest any of these funds and instead used the money to pay for luxury goods and to pay purported returns to other investors. In some cases, he would re-pay a victim's earlier investment with funds sent to him by other victims as a new investment.
In total, the scheme involved at least 26 fraudulent deals and involved over $2.2 million in funds invested by victims. Of this, Kawuba kept over $625,000.
After his arrest, Kawuba pleaded guilty to four counts of wire fraud in December 2023.
In addition to his prison sentence, Kawuba was ordered to pay more than $625,000 in restitution, forfeit over $2.2 million, and pay a special assessment of $400.
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