The U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York today, May 15, 2023, released a press statement on its website announcing the extradition of a Prominent Ghanaian Influencer, Mona Faiz Montrage aka Mona4Real from the United to Kingdom to the United States over her involvement in a romance scheme.
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The influencer is said to be a member of a criminal conspiracy that specifically targeted older Americans through romance scams worth over $2 million.
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Mona4Real was arrested in the United Kingdom on November 10, 2022, and was extradited from the United Kingdom on May 12, 2023.
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There is a six-count indictment charging MONA FAIZ MONTRAGE for her role in a series of romance schemes and for laundering the proceeds of those schemes.
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She is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, one count of wire fraud, one count of money laundering conspiracy, and one count of money laundering, each of which carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
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Montrage is also charged with one count of receipt of stolen money, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, and one count of conspiracy to receive stolen money, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
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This implies that the influencer could spent about 95 years in prison.
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She is said to have received money from several victims of romance frauds whom members of the Enterprise tricked into sending money.
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Among the false pretenses used to induce victims to send money to MONTRAGE were (i) payments to transport gold to the United States from overseas; (ii) payments to resolve a fake FBI unemployment investigation; and (iii) payments to assist a fake United States army officer in receiving funds from Afghanistan.
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"As to one victim, MONTRAGE used her real name and spoke to the victim several times by phone. MONTRAGE sent the victim a tribal marriage certificate purporting to show that MONTRAGE and the victim had been married in Ghana. The victim sent MONTRAGE approximately 82 wire transfers totaling approximately $89,000 to purportedly help with costs associated with MONTRAGE’s father’s farm in Ghana.
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"In total, MONTRAGE controlled bank accounts that received over $2 million in fraudulent funds from the Enterprise," the statement added.
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Per the Attorney's Office, the maximum potential sentences are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of MONTRAGE will be determined by a judge.
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The charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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The case is being prosecuted by the Office’s Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mitzi Steiner and Kevin Mead are in charge of the prosecution.
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