A newly elected chairman of Ogbaru Local Government Area in Anambra State, Franklin Nwadialo, has been arrested in Texas, United States, for allegedly running a $3.3 million romance scam.
The US Department of Justice, in a statement on its website on Tuesday, announced that Nwadialo was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) upon his arrival in Texas.
The Justice Department stated that Nwadialo would be transferred to the Western District of Washington for arraignment.
It added that the 40-year-old, who is accused of using false images in his profile, defrauding vulnerable women of their hard-earned money, faces a 14-count charge and if found guilty he could be sentenced to 20 years in prison.
“According to the indictment, Nwadialo used various versions of the name ‘Giovanni’ when he met his victims online on websites such as Match, Zoosk, and Christian Café,” the Justice Department said in the statement.
“Nwadialo used false images for his profile and typically told the victims that he was in the military and deployed
“In one such case in 2020, he claimed he had been fined by the military for revealing his location to the victim. He asked the victim to help him pay the $150,000 fine. In all, that victim was defrauded of at least $2.4 million.”
It explained that the suspect contacted a second victim in 2019 to help move funds from US accounts to accounts controlled by him and his co-conspirators.
“In this instance, Nwadialo claimed he needed help moving money in connection with his father’s death. The victim transferred at least $330,000 to accounts controlled by the defendant.
“A third victim was defrauded by Nwadialo when he told her that he was investing money on her behalf.
“He claimed that a cheque she received from another victim was proceeds from her investments, and he persuaded her to ‘reinvest’ the money in a specific cryptocurrency account that he controlled. The victim transferred at least $270,000 at Nwadialo’s direction.”
Also the Department said in August 2020, Nwadialo defrauded another victim whom he met on an online dating site, causing her to transfer at least $310,000 by claiming he needed financial assistance, including help paying for his father’s funeral or his son’s school tuition.
