The Anambra State government is contemplating the replacement of newly elected chairman of Ogbaru LGA, Franklin Nwadialo, who was recently arrested by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on charges related to 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.
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