Three Ghanaians extradited to US over ‘$100m romance, email scam’

Four Ghanaian nationals have been indicted in the United States for their alleged roles in an international criminal organisation that defrauded victims of over $100 million through romance scams and business email compromises.

The indictment, unsealed by Jay Clayton, the US attorney for the southern district of New York, and Christopher G. Raia, FBI assistant director in charge, named Isaac Oduro Boateng (aka “Kofi Boat”), Inusah Ahmed (aka “Pascal”), Derrick Van Yeboah (aka “Van”), and Patrick Kwame Asare (aka “Borgar”) as key members of the fraud ring.

Boateng, Ahmed, and Van Yeboah were extradited from Ghana and arrived in the US on August 7, while Asare is said to still be on the run.

The suspected fraudsters were presented before Robert W. Lehrburger, the US magistrate judge, on Friday. According to the FBI, the case is assigned to Arun Subramanian, US district judge.

According to the FBI, the suspects operated a sophisticated scheme targeting vulnerable individuals, particularly elderly victims, by posing as romantic partners online to gain their trust and defraud them of money.

The group also executed business email compromise attacks to trick companies into wiring funds to their accounts.

The stolen proceeds were reportedly laundered back to West Africa, with Boateng and Ahmed identified as “chairmen” who coordinated the criminal activities.

Each defendant faces multiple charges, including wire fraud conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to receive stolen money, and receipt of stolen money.

Convictions could result in sentences of up to 20 years in prison for some counts.

Clayton praised the FBI’s efforts and acknowledged the cooperation of Ghanaian authorities, including the Economic and Organized Crime Office, Ghana Police Service – INTERPOL, Cyber Security Authority, and National Intelligence Bureau, which facilitated the extraditions.

“As alleged, Isaac Oduro Boateng, Inusah Ahmed, Derrick van Yeboah, and Patrick Kwame Asare led and participated in an international fraud ring that engaged in a massive conspiracy to defraud vulnerable people and steal from businesses,” Clayton said.

“Offshore scammers should know that we, the FBI, and our law enforcement partners will work around the world to combat online fraud and bring perpetrators to justice.”

The prosecution is being handled by the Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit, led by Kevin Mead and Mitzi Steiner, assistant US attorneys.