Nigerian man unaware he was on FBI radar for fraud walks into his arrest on arrival in US

A 40-year-old Nigerian man, Franklin Ikechukwu Nwadialo, who was unaware he was on the FBI watch list has walked into incarceration after he arrived at an airport in Texas, the United States of America and submitted his passport for processing.

FBI believes Nwadialo is a fraudster who ripped off a number of American citizens in a multimillion-dollar romance fraud scheme from his base in Nigeria and placed him on the watch list at the borders.

Nwadialo allegedly amassed wealth, diversified and went into politics, according to reports circulating on social media in Nigeria, with some stating that he is the same Nwadialo who was recently elected as the Ogbaru Local Government chairman in Anambra State, but this cannot be independently verified at the time of filing this report.

Nwadialo planned a trip to the US completely unaware that FBI had placed him on a watch list.

A statement by the United States Department of Justice said Nwadialo was indicted in December 2023 for 14 counts of wire fraud connected to his romance fraud scheme.

Nwadialo had just arrived in the US from Nigeria when he was arrested and will be transported to the Western District of Washington for arraignment.

The Nigerian reportedly posed as a deployed soldier on various dating sites like Match, Zoosk and Christian Cafe, and scammed his victims out of millions of dollars.

“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.

According to the indictment, 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.

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. In all, that victim was defrauded of at least $2.4 million.

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 $330,000 to the accounts controlled by the defendant.

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 $270,000 at Nwadialo’s direction.

Finally, in August 2020, Nwadialo defrauded another victim who 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.

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.

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.