Nigerian arrested in Texas Airport over US$2 million romance fraud

A 40-year-old Nigerian national, Franklin Ikechukwu 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 US$2 million by posing as a romantic partner deployed in the U.S. military.

Nwadialo was traveling from Nigeria when he was taken into custody. He is now set to be transported to the Western District of Washington for arraignment.

In a statement, U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman 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 US$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.

Gorman said, “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 US$150,000 fine. In all, that victim was defrauded of at least $2.4 million.”

Meanwhile, a second victim was contacted in 2019 to help move funds from U.S. accounts to accounts controlled by the defendant and his co-schemers.

“In this instance Nwadialo represented that he needed the help moving money in connection with his father’s death. The victim transferred at least US$330,000 to the accounts controlled by the defendant,” Gorman said.

Gorman explained that a third victim was defrauded by Nwadialo when he told her that he was investing money for her.

“He claimed that a check she 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 US$270,000 at Nwadialo’s direction,” Gorman said.

According to the statement, in August 2020, Nwadialo defrauded another victim who he met on an online dating site and caused this victim to transfer at least US$310,000 by claiming he needed financial assistance, including help paying for his father’s funeral or his son’s school tuition.

“The fourteen counts of wire fraud relate to the communications with Nwadialo and the wiring of funds from victims to the defendant and his co-schemers.

Gorman noted that 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 statement said.

Gorman further stated that the FBI is investigating the case, which is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sok Jiang.

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