By Emmanuel Okogba

A 42-year-old Nigerian man, Franklin Ikechukwu Nwadialo, who is also Chairman of Ogbaru Local Government Area of Anambra State, has been sentenced to five years in federal prison for orchestrating an online romance scam that defrauded victims of more than $3.5 million.

In a statement by the US Department of Justice, U.S. District Judge Tiffany M. Cartwright handed down the sentence late Monday in Tacoma, Washington, describing the crime as “devastating.”

The judge noted that the scam not only caused severe financial losses but also inflicted deep emotional harm on victims, including “shame, depression, and isolation from their own family.”

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd stated, “This defendant 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. 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.”

FBI Special Agent in Charge W. Mike Harrington added: “For years, Mr. Nwadialo preyed on vulnerable victims looking for relationships online, gained their trust, and told them lies to steal their life savings totalling millions of dollars.”

Prosecutors asked that Nwadialo be sentenced to five years in prison, writing to the court, “Nwadialo’s offense was extremely serious and caused significant harm. For over 15 years, he and his confederates manipulated older, often widowed or divorced, individuals with savings into believing they had serious romantic partners for their own financial benefit. One victim was in a “relationship” for three years with Nwadialo’s fake online persona before learning the truth from the FBI. Another victim was a widow who thought she had found love again following her husband’s death. Instead, she lost her home and life savings and, even now, continues to suffer financially from the taxes, fees, and penalties she incurred from liquidating her accounts and home to help ‘Giovanni.’ Try as they might, those victims may never truly recover from Nwadialo’s conduct.”

Nwadialo used fake profiles, often posing as a military officer named “Giovanni,” on dating sites such as Match, Zoosk, and Christian Café. He invented emergencies – including fake military fines, family funerals, and investment schemes – to extract money from victims, many of whom were older, widowed, or divorced.

He was arrested at a Texas airport in 2024 upon arrival in the U.S. and was indicted on 14 counts of wire fraud.

The case was investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sok Tea Jiang and David T. Martin.

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