Ghanaian social media influencer, Mona Faiz Montrage, also known as Hajia4Reall, has been extradited from the United Kingdom to the US for allegedly swindling some vulnerable persons through romance scam.

According to a post on the official website of the United States Attorney’s Office (Southern District of NewYork), Hajia4Reall was extradicted from the United Kingdom on May 12, 2023.

She appeared before Manhattan federal court on Monday, May 15, 2023 where she pleaded not guilty to the charges, and is set to be released in the coming days on a $500,000 bond with GPS tracking via an ankle monitor.

Her lawyer, Adam Cortez, confirmed to The NewYork Post that Mona received money from several others who were swindled by scammers in her network, and that she is charged with wire fraud, money laundering, receipt of stolen money, and conspiracy.

If convicted on the top charge, Montrage could face up to 20 years in prison.

Meanwhile, the U.S Department of Justice indicated these as the allegations in the Indictment and other publicly filed materials;

- From at least in or about 2013 through in or about 2019, MONTRAGE was a member of a criminal enterprise (the “Enterprise”) based in West Africa that committed a series of frauds against individuals and businesses in the United States, including romance scams. The victims were vulnerable, older men and women who lived alone.

- The Enterprise frequently conducted the romance scams by sending the victims emails, text messages, and social media messages that deceived the victims into believing that they were in romantic relationships with a person who had, in fact, a fake identity assumed by members of the Enterprise. Once members of the Enterprise had successfully convinced victims that they were in a romantic relationship and had gained their trust, they convinced the victims, under false pretenses, to transfer money to bank accounts the victims believed were controlled by their romantic interests, when, in fact, the bank accounts were controlled by members of the Enterprise.

- MONTRAGE received money from several victims of romance frauds whom members of the Enterprise tricked into sending money. 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.

- 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.

- In total, MONTRAGE controlled bank accounts that received over $2 million in fraudulent funds from the Enterprise.


WA