Durham man pleads guilty to charges related to $9.5 million investment scam

GREENSBORO, N.C. (WTVD) -- A Durham man pleaded guilty on Thursday to wire fraud and securities fraud in connection with a multi-million-dollar investment scheme.

Sandra J. Hairston, United States Attorney for the Middle District of North Carolina, said that according to court documents, the crimes took place between July 2022 and June.

Nayeem Choudhury, 27, took $9.5 million from investors through his company, Dream Venture Capital Group, which he marketed as a fund that traded in option contracts.

According to authorities, Choudhury promised investors high rates of return and told them that they could invest their capital with no risk. He was also accused of falsely representing his company as profitable and that it had a proven track record of successfully trading options.

Choudhury lost more than $5 million in investor money trading options, documents showed.

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He was also accused of using part of the investor money on personal expenses, including buying a Mercedes Benz and making Ponzi-style payments to other investors.

Choudhury is scheduled to be sentenced March 21 in Winston-Salem. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, a period of supervised release of up to three years, restitution, and other monetary penalties.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ashley Waid.