Franklin Ikechukwu Nwadialo, a 40-year-old Nigerian national, was arrested at a Texas airport following an indictment in the Western District of Washington, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced today.
Mr Nwadialo was among the newly elected 27 chairmen across Anambra’s local government areas in September.
The current Ogbaru local government council chairman was elected on the platform of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA).
In December 2023, Mr Nwadialo was charged with 14 counts of wire fraud connected to a romance scam scheme, the department reported. Nwadialo was traveling from Nigeria when he was taken into custody, the department added.
“All too often the defendants in these romance scams are overseas and unreachable by U.S. law enforcement,” said U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman in a statement.
“I congratulate investigators who are alert to any opportunity to arrest such defendants and hold them accountable.”
The indictment alleges that Nwadialo used various versions of the name “Giovanni” on dating sites like Match, Zoosk, and Christian Café.
According to the department, he used fake profile images and often claimed he was deployed in the military to avoid meeting his victims.
In one instance in 2020, Nwadialo told a victim he had been fined $150,000 by the military for disclosing his location and asked her to help pay the fine, ultimately defrauding her of at least $2.4 million, the department reported.
A second victim was contacted in 2019 to assist in moving funds from U.S. accounts to accounts controlled by Nwadialo and his associates.
He claimed it was related to his father’s death, leading the victim to transfer at least $330,000 to accounts he controlled, according to the department.
A third victim believed Nwadialo was investing money on her behalf. He had her “reinvest” a check from another victim into a cryptocurrency account under his control, resulting in a loss of at least $270,000, the department stated.
In August 2020, another victim transferred at least $310,000 to Nwadialo after he claimed financial hardship, including needing help with his father’s funeral and his son’s tuition.
The department said that, based on the indictment and criminal complaint, Nwadialo is accused of defrauding victims of more than $3.3 million.
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