A Ghanaian social media influencer known as Abu Trica, whose real name is Frederick Kumi, has been extradited to the US to face trial for allegedly running a romance scam that defrauded elderly Americans of over $8m (£5.9m). He denies all the charges against him.
Prosecutors said he used AI tools to create fake online identities, targeting victims through social media and dating sites, earning their trust then extorting their money.
Kumi was flown to the US on Thursday and faces up to 20 years in prison if found guilty of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering.
Kumi’s lawyer, Oliver Barker-Vormawor, told the BBC he went to court on Thursday to stop the extradition before learning a short while later that Kumi had in fact already been extradited on board a Delta Airlines flight.
Barker-Vormawor accuses Ghana’s government of sidestepping “judicial oversight” by allegedly not waiting for the court’s verdict, and says their decision to extradite Kumi “raises profound constitutional questions”.
The Ghanaian government has yet to comment.
Kumi had long flaunted luxury items online to his more than 100,000 Instagram followers.
This raised suspicions about the sources of his income.
US prosecutors say victims were allegedly targeted through social media and online dating platforms, lured in via frequent and intimate conversations.
This would escalate to “requests for money or valuables under false pretences – such as urgent medical needs, travel expenses or investment opportunities”.
The monies, or valuables, were then directed to co-conspirators posing as third parties. Kumi allegedly distributed the money to his associates in the US and in Ghana.
Kumi, who is from the town of Swedru in southern Ghana, was arrested in a joint Ghana-US operation last year.
There is some disagreement about Kumi’s true age, with his lawyer saying he 28 years old and US prosecutors saying he is 31.
The case is being prosecuted under the US Elder Abuse Prevention and Prosecution law.
US authorities have in recent months stepped up their crackdown on criminal networks operating in the US and West Africa who seek to defraud elderly Americans.
Last week, extradited Ghanaian fraudster Joseph Kwadwo Badu Boateng – popularly known as Dada Joe Remix – pleaded guilty in the US to using romance and inheritance schemes to defraud Americans.
In December, a court in the US also sentenced Oluwaseun Adekoya, a Nigerian ringleader of nationwide bank fraud and money-laundering conspiracies, to 20 years in prison for laundering over $2m.
By BBC News
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