The Anambra State government is considering to replace the newly elected council chairman in the state, Franklin Nwadialo, who was arrested by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for an alleged romance scam.
Nwadialo was arrested on arrival at an airport in Texas on charges linked to a multi-million-dollar romance fraud scheme.
Nwadialo, indicted in December 2023 by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington, faces 14 counts of wire fraud.
The defendant allegedly scammed victims out of up to $2 million by posing as a romantic partner deployed in the U.S. military.
Nwadialo was travelling from Nigeria when he was taken into custody. He is now set to be transported to the Western District of Washington for arraignment.
The State Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Dr Law Mefor, said the government is not willing to speak or defend the allegations levelled against Franklin Nwadialo.
The arrested Nigerian national was recently elected as the executive chairman of Ogbaru local government area of Anambra State.
Another source privy to the incident said the state governor is not pleased with the chairman’s arrest and there are plans to allow his deputy to take over.
If the allegation is proven beyond reasonable doubt by the US Authorities, the newly elected Anambra Council chairman may be jailed for 20 years.
In a statement by U.S. Attorney, Tessa M. Gorman, she disclosed the challenges of prosecuting defendants involved in overseas romance scams, stating, “All too often, the defendants in these romance scams are overseas and unreachable by U.S. law enforcement.”
She commended the investigators for their persistence in bringing the defendant to justice.
According to the indictment and criminal complaint filed in the case, Nwadialo allegedly defrauded victims of more than $3.3 million.
Nwadialo used various versions of the name ‘Giovanni” when he met his victims online on websites such as Match, Zoosk, and Christian Café. Nwadialo used false images for his profile and typically told the victims that he was in the military and deployed overseas so he could not meet the victims in person.