Franklin Nwadialo, the newly elected Chairman of Ogbaru Local Government Area (LGA) in Anambra State, Nigeria, was recently taken into custody upon his arrival at an airport in Texas, United States.
Nwadialo’s arrest follows an indictment filed in December 2023 in the Western District of Washington, charging him with 14 counts of wire fraud related to a complex romance fraud scheme.
The U.S. Department of Justice reports that Nwadialo is accused of defrauding multiple individuals of millions of dollars through this elaborate scheme. He was detained while traveling from Nigeria and will soon be transferred to Washington State, where he will face arraignment.
U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman commented on the arrest, stating, “Defendants involved in these romance scams are often based overseas and beyond the reach of U.S. law enforcement. I commend investigators for seizing this opportunity to apprehend one of these defendants and seek justice for the victims.”
According to the indictment and criminal complaint, Nwadialo is alleged to have defrauded his victims of more than $3.3 million by creating various online personas. Often using the alias “Giovanni,” he reportedly created fake profiles on dating sites such as Match, Zoosk, and Christian Café, using fabricated images and posing as a U.S. military officer stationed abroad. He used this pretense to avoid meeting his victims in person and to manipulate them into sending him money.
The indictment outlines specific incidents in Nwadialo’s alleged scheme. In one case, he convinced a victim in 2020 that he had been fined by the military for disclosing his location, requesting $150,000 to cover the alleged penalty. Over time, this victim was defrauded of approximately $2.4 million.
In another instance from 2019, Nwadialo asked a victim to transfer funds from U.S. accounts to those he controlled, falsely claiming the money was tied to his father’s death. This victim ended up transferring at least $330,000 to accounts connected to Nwadialo and his associates.
A third victim was deceived by Nwadialo’s promise of investment returns. He persuaded her that a check she received from another person represented investment proceeds and convinced her to reinvest the funds into a cryptocurrency account he controlled, leading her to transfer at least $270,000.
In August 2020, Nwadialo reportedly defrauded another victim he met on a dating site, persuading her to transfer at least $310,000 by claiming he needed funds for personal expenses, such as his father’s funeral or his son’s tuition fees.
Each of the 14 counts of wire fraud corresponds to Nwadialo’s communications with these victims and the transfers of funds to his and his co-conspirators’ accounts. Wire fraud is a serious offense, carrying a maximum prison sentence of up to 20 years.
At this stage, the charges are only allegations, and under U.S. law, Nwadialo is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is leading the investigation, and the case will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sok Jiang.
