PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A man charged in a federal case alleging that millions of dollars taken from mostly elderly Americans through Nigeria-based fraud schemes were laundered through Rhode Island was arrested at Logan Airport in Boston as he tried to re-enter the United States from Istanbul, the U.S. attorney's office for Rhode Island said Monday.

Adetunji Abudu, 34, of Lagos, Nigeria, appeared Oct. 21 in U.S. District Court in Rhode Island and was ordered detained pending trial, prosecutors said.

Abudu is one of six people charged in a superseding indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Providence. The indictment alleges that victims were deceived through online romance scams, fake sweepstakes, false rental listings and sham online shipping deals. Prosecutors allege the money was moved through bank accounts and businesses in Rhode Island, Idaho and elsewhere, with much of it sent to Nigeria, and that members of the conspiracy bought cars with the proceeds and shipped them overseas.

According to prosecutors, Abudu fled to Nigeria in 2019 after the FBI searched his home in North Providence under a court-authorized warrant.

His five co-defendants, Dotun Olawale Alonge, Oluwaseyi Akintol, Samson Ikotun, Olabode Shaba and Oladipup Shodipu, later pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy and were sentenced to terms ranging from time served to 42 months in prison, prosecutors said.

The charges against Abudu are allegations, and he is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.

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