FBI arrest: Anambra probes LG chair’s $3.3m romance scam

Anambra State government has commenced an investigation into the $3.3m romance fraud case involving the newly elected chairman of Ogbaru Local Government Area of the state, Franklin Nwadialo, in the United States, Sunday PUNCH has learnt.

Recall that the Anambra council boss was recently arrested in Texas by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for allegedly running a $3.3m romance scam.

In a statement on Tuesday, the US Department of Justice said the 40-year-old was accused of using false images in his profile to defraud vulnerable women of their hard-earned money.

“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,” the DOJ stated.

It added that the Anambra politician “typically told the victims that he was in the military and deployed overseas, so he could not meet them in person.”

“In one such case in 2020, he claimed 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 $2.4m,” DOJ stated.

The US judicial body also said the Anambra politicians further duped three more persons of the sum of $330,000, $270,000 and $310,000 respectively.

According to the US justice department, the Anambra council boss would be transferred to the Western District of Washington for arraignment as the 14-count charges leveled against him bother on wire fraud which is liable to 20 years imprisonment.

But when contacted on Saturday, the Anambra State Commissioner for Local Government, Community and Chieftaincy Affairs, Tonycollins Nwabunwanne, said the state government had commenced an investigation to ascertain the true position of the fraud case.

“We just saw it online. But we are still investigating and making efforts to find out its true position before taking our stand,” he said.

Also, a ranking member of the state House of Assembly, anonymously said, “I think his Deputy will be sworn in based on the constitution. That is all I will say for now till we get the official response from the US authorities.”