Franklin Nwadialo, the chairperson of the Ogbaru Local Government Area of Anambra State, has been sentenced to five years’ imprisonment in the US over a $3.5 million romance scam.
PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported that Mr Nwadialo, now 42, was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) upon his arrival at an airport in Texas, the US, on 2 November 2024.
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According to the indictment and criminal complaint filed in the case, the official was accused of defrauding victims of more than $3.3 million in the romance scam.
The case was investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant US Attorneys Sok Jiang and David T. Martin.
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Sentencing
Mr Nwadialo was sentenced to five years in prison late on Monday in the US District Court in Tacoma for deploying a scheme to defraud some eight different victims via an online romance.
The US Department of Justice said in a statement on Tuesday that the First Assistant US Attorney Charles Neil Floyd announced the sentencing of the Nigerian politician.
According to the statement, while delivering judgement on Monday, US District Judge Tiffany M. Cartwright described the crime as “devastating,” noting that the crime ruined lives, caused monetary harm and forced victims to endure non-monetary harm.
Mr Tiffany said the non-monetary harms included “shame, depression, and isolation from their own family.”
“This defendant (Mr Nwadialo) 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,” Mr Floyd said.
“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,” he added.
According to the statement, during the hearing, prosecutors asked the court to sentence Mr Nwadialo to five years in prison because the defendant’s “offence was extremely serious and caused significant harm.”
They argued that for over 15 years, Mr Nwadialo and his confederates “manipulated older, often widowed or divorced, individuals with savings into believing they had serious romantic partners for their own financial benefit.”
Details of the fraud
A copy of a court document earlier obtained by PREMIUM TIMES stated that Mr Nwadialo used various versions of the name ‘Giovanni’ when he met his victims online on websites such as Match, Zoosk, and Christian Café.
It also stated that the politician 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.
“Using these personas, Nwadialo invented many reasons he needed the victims to send him money.
“In one such case in 2020, he indicated 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,” it added. “In all, that victim was defrauded of at least $2.4 million.”
More instances of fraud
In another instance, the US Department of Justice said another victim was contacted in 2019 to help move funds from US accounts to accounts controlled by Mr Nwadialo and his co-schemers.
It said the Nigerian politician claimed that he needed help to move the money in connection with his father’s death.
“The victim transferred at least $330,000 to the accounts controlled by the defendant (Nwadialo),” it said.
Similarly, the US Department of Justice said a third victim was defrauded by Mr Nwadialo when he told the victim that he was investing money for her.
The Nigerian further claimed that a cheque the victim received from another victim was proceeds from her investments, and he had her “reinvest” the money in a specific cryptocurrency account that he controlled.
“The victim transferred at least $270,000 at Nwadialo’s direction,” the Justice Department said.
“Finally, in August 2020, Nwadialo defrauded another victim whom he met on an online dating site and caused this victim 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.”
According to the statement, Mr Nwadialo was earlier indicted in December 2023 on 14 counts of wire fraud connected to his romance fraud scheme.
From election to imprisonment
Mr Nwadialo was among the 21 elected chairpersons of local government councils in Anambra State in September 2024. He was sworn in alongside 20 of his colleagues on 4 October 2024.
READ ALSO: Anambra govt speaks on arrest of LG chairperson in US over $3.3m scam
He is a member of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, the ruling party in Anambra.
His arrest in the US occurred exactly one month after he was sworn in as chairperson of the Ogbaru Local Government Area of Anambra.
Anambra govt’s stance on Nwadialo
Shortly after Mr Nwadialo’s arrest in the US, PREMIUM TIMES contacted the Anambra State Government to seek their reaction on the development.
The Commissioner for Information in the state, Law Mefor, said the state government was not concerned about the arrest of the council chairperson in the US, given that local government is now autonomous in Nigeria.
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