A newly elected local government chairman in Anambra State, Franklin Ikechukwu Nwadialo, has been arrested by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, for his alleged involvement in a $3.3million romance fraud.
40-year-old Franklin is the new chairman of Ogbaru Local Government Area in Anambra State. He 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.
Following his arrest, he will be transported to the Western District of Washington for arraignment.
According to the FBI, Franklin had allegedly presented himself to victims as a U.S. military officer deployed overseas. His victims were those he met on online dating platforms such as Match, Zoosk, and Christian Café.
He allegedly duped his victims by bearing different names such as ‘Giovanni’, persuading them to send money to him claiming 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.
While commending the FBI for arresting Franklin, the U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman noted 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.
Franklin now faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.