Franklin Nwadialo, the newly elected chairperson of Ogbaru Local Government Area of Anambra State, Nigeria’s South-east, has been arrested in the US.
Mr Nwadialo, 40, was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on his arrival at an airport in Texas on Saturday, the US Department of Justice said in a statement on Tuesday.
He is accused of engaging in a romance scam.
According to the indictment and criminal complaint filed in the case, the politician allegedly defrauded victims of more than $3.3 million in the alleged romance scam.
The statement said he will be transported to the Western District of Washington for arraignment.
The case is being investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant US Attorney Sok Jiang.
It also alleged that the politician 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,” it added.
“In all, that victim was defrauded of at least $2.4 million.”
