Thursday, June 25, 2026 - A 42-year-old Nigerian national, Franklin Ikechukwu Nwadialo, has been sentenced to five years in prison in the United States for his scheme to steal some $3.5 million from eight different victims via an online romance scam.
Nwadialo, the chairman of Ogbaru Local Government Area of
Anambra State was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) at an
airport in Texas upon his arrival in the U.S in 2024.
The politician was elected chairperson on 28 September,
2024.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd announced
this in a statement issued by the United States Department of Justice on
Tuesday, June 23, 2026.
Nwadialo was sentenced on Monday in U.S. District Court in
Tacoma, Washington.
He was indicted in December 2023 for 14 counts of wire fraud
connected to his romance fraud scheme.
At the sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge Tiffany M.
Cartwright called the crime “devastating,” noting that it is “not an
exaggeration to say it ruined lives—not only financial lives” but also from the
nonmonetary harms the victims endured, such as “shame, depression, and
isolation from their own family.”
“This defendant preyed on those already suffering from the
loss of loved ones or other heartbreak. For some 15 years he upended the lives
of people he never met,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd.
“He spun tale after tale to gain the victims’ trust and
their money – even claiming to run a non-profit providing services for autistic
children. No scheme was too low for these conspirators.”
“For years, Mr. Nwadialo preyed on vulnerable victims
looking for relationships online, gained their trust, and told them lies to
steal their life savings totaling millions of dollars,” said W. Mike
Harrington, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Seattle field office.
“Fortunately, although he operated his romance scams from
overseas, Mr. Nwadialo ultimately traveled to the United States where he could
be arrested and held accountable for his crimes here in the Western District of
Washington.”
According to records filed in the case, Nwadialo defrauded
victims of more than $3.5 million.
Nwadialo used various versions of the name ‘Giovanni” when
he met his victims online on dating websites such as Match, Zoosk, and
Christian Café.
He used false images and information for his profile,
typically telling victims that he was in the military and deployed overseas so
he could not meet them in person.
Using these personas, Nwadialo invented many reasons he
needed the victims to send him money.
In one case, he told a victim that he had been fined by the
military for revealing his location to the victim and asked for the victim’s
help paying the $150,000 fine.
Nwadialo used other manipulative ploys to convince victims
to send him money.
He targeted older, often widowed or divorced
individuals.
He represented to one victim that he needed help moving
money in connection with his father’s d2ath.
He told a victim that he was investing money for her. And he
claimed he needed financial assistance, including help paying for his father’s
funeral or his son’s school tuition.
Prosecutors asked that Nwadialo be sentenced to five years
in prison, writing to the court, “Nwadialo’s offense was extremely serious and
caused significant harm."
“For over 15 years, he and his confederates manipulated
older, often widowed or divorced, individuals with savings into believing they
had serious romantic partners for their own financial benefit,” the prosecutors
said.
"One victim was in a “relationship” for three years
with Nwadialo’s fake online persona before learning the truth from the
FBI.
"Another victim was a widow who thought she had found
love again following her husband’s d3ath.
"Instead, she lost her home and life savings and, even
now, continues to suffer financially from the taxes, fees, and penalties she
incurred from liquidating her accounts and home to help ‘Giovanni.’ Try as they
might, those victims may never truly recover from Nwadialo’s conduct.”
The case was investigated by the FBI.
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