Nwadialo
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Franklin Ikechukwu Nwadialo, the newly elected Chairman of Ogbaru Local Government Area in Anambra State, has been arrested by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, in connection with a romance fraud, involving $3.3 million.
The 40-year-old was arrested on Friday on arrival at an airport in Texas, U.S from Nigeria and is facing a 14 counts charge, bordering on defrauding victims of more than $3.3 million.
The FBI accused Franklin of allegedly presenting himself to victims whom he met on online dating platforms, such as Match, Zoosk, and Christian Café, as a U.S. military officer deployed overseas.
He allegedly duped his victims by bearing different names, such as ‘Giovanni’, and persuading them to send money to him, claiming that he needed financial help.
One of his victims reportedly gave him $2.4 million after he told him he had been fined by the military for revealing his location.
The U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman, commended the FBI for arresting Franklin, noting that arresting people involved in romance scam is one of the most difficult arrests to make due to the fact that several of the fraudsters live outside the location where their victims stay.
“All too often, the defendants in these romance scams are overseas and unreachable by U.S. law enforcement,” she said.
If convicted, the local government chairmen faces up to 20 years in prison.
Meanwhile, the Anambra State Government said it can neither speak for or against the internet romance allegations levelled Nwadialo since he is not an appointee of the state government but an elected Chairman of his people.
