By Our Correspondent
Franklin Ikechukwu Nwadialo, Chairman of Ogbaru Local Government Area of Anambra State, has been sentenced to five years in a United States prison for masterminding a romance scam that defrauded victims of about $3.5 million.
Nwadialo, 42, was arrested by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) at a Texas airport after arriving in the United States in 2024.
The Ogbaru council boss, who was elected chairman on September 28, 2024, was sentenced on Monday by the U.S. District Court in Tacoma, Washington.
The sentencing was announced by First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd in a statement issued by the U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday, June 23, 2026.
According to prosecutors, Nwadialo was indicted in December 2023 on 14 counts of wire fraud linked to an elaborate online romance scam that targeted at least eight victims.
At the sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Tiffany M. Cartwright described the crime as “devastating,” saying it ruined not only the victims’ finances but also caused emotional trauma, including shame, depression and isolation.
“This defendant preyed on people already suffering from the loss of loved ones or other heartbreak. For some 15 years, he upended the lives of people he never met,” Floyd said.
“He spun tale after tale to gain the victims’ trust and their money, even claiming to operate a non-profit organisation for autistic children. No scheme was too low for these conspirators.”
Also commenting on the case, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Seattle Field Office, W. Mike Harrington, said Nwadialo exploited vulnerable people searching for companionship online before stealing their life savings.
“Fortunately, although he operated his romance scams from overseas, Mr. Nwadialo ultimately travelled to the United States, where he could be arrested and held accountable for his crimes in the Western District of Washington,” Harrington said.
