Franklin Nwadialo, a Nigerian local government chair elected into office in 2023, has been transferred from Texas —location of arrest— to Washington, where he was arraigned for 14 counts of wire fraud and romance fraud going up to $3.3 million, Peoples Gazette has learnt.

Mr Nwadialo was arrested in Texas on November 2 after allegedly defrauding vulnerable female Americans of millions of dollars between December 2019 and December 2023, according to prosecutors who have been tracking his dealings and movement.

Prior to his arrest, he had been indicted by a grand jury on December 6, 2023,  but it appeared Mr Nwadialo was oblivious to the indictment  —which approved that a warrant be issued for his arrest — given his bold move to travel to the U.S. where he landed in the waiting trap of the American law enforcement agents.

FBI agents who spoke to multiple victims that bore the brunt of Mr Nwadialo’s alleged lies said he used a fake ID, ‘Giovanni’, to gain their trust before coming up with cock and bull stories to collect their funds.

In one instance in which he falsely claimed to be a military officer, Mr Nwadialo told the victim that he was fined $150,000 for revealing his identity to her. He went ahead to scam the victim over $2 million, using different devious tactics.

“In all, that victim was defrauded of at least $2.4 million,” a statement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Washington, said on November 5.

“Nwadialo 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,” the statement added.

FBI agents arrested him immediately after he landed at the airport in Texas on November 2 and, on November 4, moved him to the U.S. District Court of Washington in Tacoma, where he was arraigned on the 14 counts of wire fraud bordering on romance scam.

Mr Nwadialo has been remanded in custody until his next hearing, when he might enter a plea to commence his trial. He is looking at over 20 years of jail term.

The council chair’s case mirrors the stories of prominent Nigerian politicians who have had run-ins with the U.S. government but come to Nigeria to cool off and kick-start their political careers with the proceeds of fraud.

Femi Gbajabiamila, a former House Speaker and the president’s chief of staff, has his own share of legal hurdles with the State Bar of Georgia in the United States which revoked his licence to practice after he was found violating several guidelines of the law profession and accused of stealing client’s funds.

Mr Gbajabiamila, “who has only been a member of the bar since 2001, admits that he accepted payment of $25,000 as settlement of a client’s personal injury claims, deposited those funds in his attorney trust account in January 2003, failed to promptly disburse those funds to his client, withdrew those funds for his own use, closed his practice and moved out of the country,” the court said at the time. 

Ogun governor Dapo Abiodun was similarly arrested in the U.S. in the 80s over an allegation of credit card fraud but successfully contested the gubernatorial elections for two terms.

Mr Abiodun’s associate and Special Adviser –now suspended—  Bidemi El-Rufai just got out of Fort Dix prison in New Jersey, having completed a five-year sentence for stealing COVID-19 relief funds.

Uche Ben Odunzeh, jailed for fraud in the U.S., picked up a PDP nomination ticket for House of Reps in 2022.

Mr Odunze had lied to the U.S. government to claim remuneration for supplying sophisticated high-end wheelchairs (K0011) when his company, Emerald Medical, only provided cheap and basic wheelchairs to beneficiaries of the Medicaid health programme.

President Bola Tinubu had his own run-in with the U.S. government in 1993 when he surrendered $460,000 to the foreign government over allegations of narcotics trafficking.

The U.S. Court for the Northern District of Illinois released certified true copies of Mr Tinubu’s encounter with American authorities over allegations of narcotics trafficking and money laundering in 2022.