Franklin Ikechukwu Nwadialo, a newly elected chairman of Ogbaru Local Government Area in Anambra State, Nigeria, has been arrested upon his arrival at a Texas airport. The 40-year-old faces serious charges connected to an alleged multi-million-dollar romance fraud scheme.
Nwadialo, who was indicted in December 2023 by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington, faces 14 counts of wire fraud. According to authorities, he allegedly scammed victims out of nearly $2 million, posing as a military partner stationed in the United States and using various online dating sites, including Match, Zoosk, and Christian Café. He created false profiles, often using aliases such as "Giovanni," and claimed to be deployed overseas, making it appear impossible for victims to meet him in person.
Upon his recent apprehension, U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman commented on the challenges of prosecuting individuals involved in international romance scams, emphasizing that “all too often, the defendants in these romance scams are overseas and unreachable by U.S. law enforcement.” She praised the investigative team’s dedication, which resulted in Nwadialo being brought to the U.S. to face justice. According to the indictment and criminal complaint, his actions reportedly led to over $3.3 million in losses for his victims.
Nwadialo’s tactics included fabricating situations to elicit money from his victims. In one case from 2020, he convinced a victim that he had been fined $1 million by the military for disclosing his location and needed her assistance to pay the fine. The victim lost a substantial amount as a result. In another instance in 2019, he allegedly manipulated a different victim into transferring at least $330,000 under the pretense that he needed help moving funds from U.S. accounts related to his father’s death.
In another elaborate scheme, Nwadialo persuaded a third victim to reinvest money supposedly earned from her investments into a cryptocurrency account he controlled. She ultimately transferred approximately $270,000 to this account. Additionally, in August 2020, he extracted at least $310,000 from a victim under the guise of needing financial assistance for his father's funeral or his son’s education.
These instances of deception contributed to the 14 counts of wire fraud he faces. Gorman noted that wire fraud carries severe penalties, with each count potentially resulting in up to 20 years in prison. She clarified that the charges are allegations and that Nwadialo remains innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law. The FBI is currently investigating the case, and Assistant United States Attorney Sok Jiang is leading the prosecution.
