Franklin Ikechukwu Nwadialo, a 40-year-old Nigerian national has been arrested in the U.S. over alleged $2m scam.
Franklin Ikechukwu Nwadialo was indicted in December 2023 for 14 counts of wire fraud connected to his romance fraud scheme. Nwadialo was traveling from Nigeria when he was arrested. Nwadialo will be transported to the Western District of Washington for arraignment.
“All too often the defendants in these romance scams are overseas and unreachable by U.S. law enforcement,” said U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. “I congratulate investigators who are alert to any opportunity to arrest such defendants and hold them accountable.”
According to the indictment and criminal complaint filed in the case, Nwadialo allegedly defrauded victims of more than $3.3 million. The indictment states that Nwadialo used various versions of the name ‘Giovanni’ when he met victims online on websites such as Match, Zoosk, and Christian Café. He used false images for his profile and typically told victims he was in the military and deployed overseas so he could not meet them in person. Using these personas, Nwadialo invented many reasons he needed victims to send him money. In one case in 2020, he claimed he had been fined by the military for revealing his location to a victim and asked her to help pay a $150,000 fine. That victim was defrauded of at least $2.4 million.
A second victim was contacted in 2019 to assist in moving funds from U.S. accounts to accounts controlled by the defendant and his co-schemers. Nwadialo represented that he needed help moving money related to his father’s death. The victim transferred at least $330,000 to accounts controlled by the defendant.
A third victim was defrauded when Nwadialo told her he was investing money on her behalf. He claimed a check she received from another victim was proceeds from her investments and instructed her to “reinvest” the money in a specific cryptocurrency account he controlled. She transferred at least $270,000 at his direction.
Finally, in August 2020, Nwadialo defrauded another victim he met on an online dating site, causing the victim to transfer at least $310,000 by claiming he needed financial assistance, including help paying for his father’s funeral and his son’s school tuition.
The fourteen counts of wire fraud relate to communications with Nwadialo and the wiring of funds from victims to the defendant and his co-schemers.
Wire fraud is punishable by up to twenty years in prison.
The charges contained in the indictment are only allegations. A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
The case is being investigated by the FBI.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sok Jiang.
