Lawyer Ebenezer Apiagyei, a US-based prosecutor and Supreme Court attorney, has stated that members involved in the romance scam saga will be hunted down by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
According to him, members of the enterprise who worked with Hajia 4Reall to defraud people should not think that they have been left under the radar, but rather, they will be arrested at the right time when all investigations have finally been concluded.
"Absolutely, this is what people do not know, especially people that get involved in conspiracy and fraudulent activities. You cannot defraud United State citizens, and go scot-free. The fact that they have not come to your time, doesn't mean nobody is investigating you. There were a group of individual enterprise, 8 of them were indicted in 2020, they investigate them from 2014 to 2018. You realise that they were investigating this individual from 2013 to 2019. As a prosecutor, I can tell you, this might not go to trial, because they have enough evidence against them," he explained.
Lawyer Ebenezer Apiagyei spoke to Frank Ntiamoah Williams in an interview, which was monitored by GhanaWeb.
Background
Ghanaian social media influencer, Mona Faiz Montrage, also known as Hajia4Reall, is officially the subject of a six-count charge in a Manhattan Federal Court, the United State's Attorney's Office confirmed in a May 15, 2023 statement.
The socialite was extradited from the United Kingdom to the US for allegedly swindling older, single American men and women in a romance scam to the tune of over US$2 million.
According to the statement, Mona4Reall appeared in court on Monday, May 15, 2023, for her alleged involvement in a series of schemes that targeted vulnerable people who lived alone.
The New York Post news portal stated that the socialite 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 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.
According to court documents, she was involved with a group of con artists from West Africa from at least 2013 through 2019.
The scammers would trick victims into transferring money to them under false pretences, such as to help move gold to the US from overseas, to resolve bogus FBI investigations, and payments to help fake US Army officers in Afghanistan.
Manhattan US Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement shared by the New York Post said, "Thanks to the efforts of our law enforcement partners, Montrage was arrested abroad and has been brought to the United States to face justice. These scams can be both financially and emotionally devastating for vulnerable victims."
Cortez said his client can only travel in certain parts of New York and New Jersey pending her case.
