A 42-year-old Nigerian national has been sentenced to five years in federal prison for orchestrating a romance scam that defrauded eight victims out of approximately $3.5 million, U.S. authorities announced on Monday.
Franklin Ikechukwu Nwadialo was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Tacoma. He was arrested at an airport in Texas in 2024 after arriving from Nigeria. Federal prosecutors had charged him in December 2023 in the Western District of Washington with 14 counts of wire fraud connected to the large-scale romance fraud operation.
The investigation began in 2022 when one of the victims contacted the FBI to report being targeted by a romance scam, according to FBI Seattle spokesperson Amy Alexander.
Authorities said Nwadialo spent roughly 15 years targeting individuals through online dating websites, including Match, Zoosk, and Christian Cafe. Using a variety of fake identities, often under versions of the name “Giovanni,” he allegedly persuaded victims to send substantial sums of money to accounts under his control.
Prosecutors stated that Nwadialo built long-term relationships with victims before requesting financial assistance. He reportedly invented numerous stories to gain their trust and sympathy. In one case, he claimed to be serving in the military and convinced a victim that he needed $150,000 to pay a penalty after revealing his location. Other victims were told he required money for his father’s funeral expenses, his son’s education costs, or charitable programs supporting children with autism.
Many of the victims were older adults who had experienced significant personal losses, including divorce or the death of a spouse.
“This defendant preyed on those already suffering from the loss of loved ones or other heartbreak,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd said in a statement. “For some 15 years he upended the lives of people he never met.”
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