A Watertown swindler's get-rich-quick scheme has landed him in the clink for over two years, after duping investors with tall tales of African sports ventures that never existed. Adrian Kawuba, 34, has been sentenced to 27 months behind bars for wire fraud – a conviction that comes with a hefty price tag for his criminal hustle, including more than $625,000 in restitution, a forfeiture of over $2.2 million, and a $400 fine, authorities announced. Kawuba, who sang tunes of guaranteed returns on investments in African youth sports, was instead financing his life of excess, splurging on luxury goods and cycling funds through his Ponzi scheme, according to a statement from the Justice Department.
Victims were sold a dream of high-profit returns, but in the fashion of classic Ponzi scheme strategy, Kawuba paid them with the investments of others, never actually pouring a single dollar into the promised ventures, Kawuba pleaded guilty last December, to four counts of wire fraud involving at least 26 fraudulent deals and deceived investors to the tune of more than $2.2 million says Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy, after Senior District Court Judge William G. Young hammered down the sentence at the federal court in Boston.
The con man's scheme crumbled after a collaborative investigation between the FBI's Boston Division and the Watertown Police Department, with Special Agent in Charge Jodi Cohen and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kriss Basil of the Office’s Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit at the helm of prosecution. As per Cohen, schemes like Kawuba's serve as a jarring reminder to investors to perform due diligence before entrusting their hard-earned money to promises that seem just too good to be true.
