Federal prosecutors announced Monday that famous Ghanaian Social Media influencer and singer, Mona Faiz Montrage, known as Hajia4real has been extradited from the UK to the US for allegedly defrauding elderly, single American men and women out of over $2 million in a depraved lonely-hearts scam.
Mona Faiz Montrage, 30, who is standing trial in Manhattan federal court is charged with wire fraud, money laundering, receipt of stolen money and conspiracy, faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted on the top charge.
The top charges including 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.
Montage is additionally charged with one count of receipt of stolen money, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years and one count of conspiracy to receive stolen money, which carries a maximum sentence of five years.
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Michael J. Driscoll, the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), announced the unsealing of 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.
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 she 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 her father’s farm in Ghana.
In total, Montrage controlled bank accounts that received over S2 million in fraudulent funds from the Enterprise.
Montrage has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
