FBI Arrests Afrobeats Artist Chinedu Opute, On Davido’s Label As NPZ, For Fraud

Authorities in the United States have arrested a Nigerian Afrobeats entertainer after he was indicted by a grand jury that examined his criminal activities on the Internet, documents obtained by Peoples Gazette said.

Chinedu Opute recorded several songs in the late aughts through at least 2013 with another Nigerian thespian, David ‘Davido’ Adeleke, their public profiles said.

He was indicted in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio in Cleveland on April 16, but he was not taken into custody until April 30.

Following his arrest in Atlanta, Georgia, on Wednesday, Mr Opute was granted bail by Magistrate Judge Justin Anand of the Northern District of Georgia before he could be transferred to Ohio to face charges. No lawyer was listed for him in the bail proceeding.

Prosecutors promptly appeal the decision to release the suspect on bail. He was said to carry a U.S. green card as a permanent resident and could potentially flee the country with his Nigerian passport.

Charges seen by The Gazette showed how Mr Opute connived with other criminal elements to swindle American institutions, businesses and individuals of funds that were estimated in millions of dollars.

Authorities charged NPZ with wire fraud, identity fraud and money laundering for activities that started around 2023. On June 13, 2023, Mr Opute was allegedly involved in stealing and transferring approximately $500,000 in illicit funds through several U.S. bank accounts.

Prosecutors also presented several pages of bank statements that exposed hundreds of illicit transactions linked to Mr Opute, all ranging from a few hundred to thousands of dollars.

Authorities also seized Mr Opute’s communications and tendered them before the grand jury, allowing jurors to see how he plotted several fraudulent transactions with his co-conspirators.

It was not immediately clear if Mr Opute, a resident of Sandy Springs, has contacted a criminal defence attorney. A spokesman for Davido’s label did not immediately respond to a request for comments.

Some of the songs the duo produced together, which Davido touted on his social media, included ‘Aisha’, ‘Bad Boy’ and ‘African Champion.’

Mr Opute appeared to be the latest ally of Davido’s to be charged for fraud, and the Afrobeats star himself was recently accused of intellectual property rights theft and summoned to New York to render damages in a civil suit.