Two Ghanaians deemed to be involved in a cyber fraud scheme have been apprehended and extradited to the US.
Leading the pack are scammers identified as Deborah Mensah and Maxwell Peter. Deborah Mensah, aged 33, according to reports was arrested on January 16, 2020, in Accra.
She has been slapped with multiple charges including one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, one count of wire fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
These scams according to the US Department of Justice each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
Deborah is accused of defrauding victims for over $10million between 2014 and 2018 through business email compromises (BEC) and romance scams target at elderly Americans.
Acting Manhattan U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said Deborah laundered money through a network of bank account in the Bronx into accounts held by members of her cohort of scammers in Ghana.
She added, “Now she is in the United States and facing charges under U.S. law”.
The sneaky lady is accused of impersonating and directing withdrawals of stolen funds.
Other defendants already sentenced include Muftau Adamu, alias “Muftau Adams,” of the Bronx, New York, sentenced to 51 months in prison on June 7, 2019.
Also, Prince Nana Aggrey, 45, of the Bronx, New York, was sentenced to 30 months in prison on May 10, 2019, and Assana Traore, 41, of the Bronx, New York, sentenced to 15 months in prison on October 8, 2019.
On the other hand, another fraudster named Maxwell Peter faces trial for an indictment charging him with wire fraud, money laundering, computer fraud, and aggravated identity theft under the alias “Sandra Lin”.
Seven other conspirators have pleaded guilty and admitted to being involved in these schemes.
Benard E. Okorhi extradited from Canada, Olufalojimi Abegunde, Javier Luis Ramos-Alonso were all incarcerated in March after a seven-day trial in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee.
These happenings put to bed the fallacy that scammers could hide in Africa and defraud people without being noticed.
The FBI issued a statement saying that they have representatives across Africa working around the clock to bring anyone who commits a cyber crime to book.
