Franklin Ikechukwu Nwadialo, the newly elected chairman of Ogbaru Local Government Area in Anambra State, Nigeria, was arrested in Texas over his involvement in a multi-million-dollar romance fraud scheme.
The 40-year-old local government leader was apprehended upon his arrival at a U.S. airport and now faces charges of wire fraud in connection with a fraud operation that allegedly swindled victims out of nearly $3.3 million.
Nwadialo, who was indicted in December 2023 by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington, is charged with 14 counts of wire fraud.
According to prosecutors, he posed as a military officer stationed overseas to deceive victims he met on dating sites such as Match, Zoosk, and Christian Café.
Using multiple aliases like “Giovanni,” Nwadialo gained the trust of his victims, leading them to believe they were in romantic relationships with him, before manipulating them into sending large sums of money.
U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman described the complexity of prosecuting romance scams involving overseas perpetrators, stating, “It’s often difficult to bring foreign defendants to justice, but through dedicated investigation, we’ve managed to apprehend Mr. Nwadialo.”
She added that Nwadialo’s alleged actions had defrauded victims of millions of dollars.
The indictment outlines several instances where Nwadialo convinced victims to send money under false pretenses.
In one case from 2020, he falsely claimed that he had been fined $1 million by the military for revealing his location and requested financial assistance to pay the fine.
In another case from 2019, he deceived a victim into transferring over $330,000 by pretending to need help moving funds related to his father’s death.
Nwadialo also allegedly targeted a third victim, leading her to believe that her money was being invested in cryptocurrency.
Under his direction, the victim transferred at least $270,000 into an account he controlled.
In yet another instance, he convinced a victim to send him at least $310,000 for supposed expenses related to his father’s funeral and his son’s education.
The charges against Nwadialo stem from his alleged use of wire communications to facilitate fraudulent transfers of funds from his victims to himself and his co-conspirators.
If convicted, Nwadialo faces up to 20 years in prison for each count of wire fraud.
While the charges remain allegations, Gorman emphasized that Nwadialo is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
The case is being investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sok Jiang.
