The U.S. Department of Justice charged four Ghanaian nationals for their roles in a massive fraud ring linked to the theft of over $100 million in romance scams and business email compromise attacks.
The defendants were allegedly high-ranking members of a major international fraud ring based in Ghana that targeted companies and individuals across the United States between 2016 and May 2023.
Isaac Oduro Boateng (also known as “Kofi Boat”), Inusah Ahmed (“Pascal”), Derrick Van Yeboah (“Van”), and Patrick Kwame Asare (“Borgar”) were extradited from Ghana and arrived in the United States on August 7.
“The defendants have been brought to the United States to be held accountable for their alleged roles in scamming companies and vulnerable Americans out of over $100 million,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge Christopher G. Raia on Friday.
According to court documents, the fraudsters (who called themselves “sakawa boys” or “game boys”) mainly targeted vulnerable older men and women who lived alone, deceiving them into believing they were in romantic relationships over the internet after gaining their trust, and tricking them into depositing money into the accounts of middlemen in the U.S.
These middlemen would then launder the money, take their cut of the stolen funds, and send the rest to members of the fraud ring in West Africa who coordinated the crime ring’s fraudulent activities, known as “chairmen.”
The alleged scammers also tricked numerous businesses into wiring funds following business email compromise attacks, using email addresses designed to spoof or impersonate the accounts of customers or other employees.
“These fake email accounts were specifically designed to trick other employees of the company with access to the company’s finances into thinking the fake email accounts were authentic,” according to an unsealed indictment.
“The fake email accounts were then used to send instructions to wire money to certain bank accounts and also included fake authorization letters for the wire transfers that contained forged signatures of company employees.”
Boateng and Ahmed were both chairmen in the operation, while Asare and Van Yeboah were also high-ranking members in the scam ring, with the latter directly involved in romance scams.
The Four Ghanaian nationals face charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud, each carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years. They are also charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering (20 years), conspiracy to receive stolen money (up to 5 years), and receipt of stolen money (up to 10 years).
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