A Ghanaian identified as Derrick Van Yeboah has entered a guilty plea for his involvement in an over $100 million romance scam scheme.
According to a statement by the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, he is standing trial for one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud before U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian.
This carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
The 40-year-old has agreed to make restitution and pay forfeiture, both in the amount of $10,149,429.17 and is scheduled for sentence on June 3, 2026.
Scheme
According to the charging documents and statements made in public filings and public court proceedings, Van was a member of a criminal organisation primarily based in Ghana that committed romance scams and business email compromises against individuals and businesses located across the United States.
The syndicate targeted vulnerable older men and women who were tricked into believing that they were in online romantic relationships with persons who were, in fact, fake identities assumed by members of the conspiracy.
Once members of the conspiracy had gained the trust of their victims, they deceived those victims into sending their money to the enterprise or into helping them launder funds from other victims, the charge sheet said.
The conspirators also committed business email compromises to trick and deceive businesses into wiring funds to the enterprise.
After stealing the money, the fraud proceeds were then laundered to West Africa.
Van personally perpetrated many of the romance scams by impersonating fake romantic partners in communications with victims.
He is being held responsible for more than $10 million he stole from victims via his romance scams.
Story by Hajara Fuseini
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Source:
opemsuo.com