US court grants home detention to Ghanaian influencer accused of romance scam. A US court has ordered that Ghanaian influencer Hajia 4Reall be placed under home detention with a GPS ankle monitor as she faces trial for her alleged involvement in a romance scam that duped lonely Americans out of $2 million.
The 30-year-old socialite was extradited from the UK to the US after being accused of participating in a scheme that targeted elderly, single American men and women and tricked them into sending money to fake lovers.
She has been charged with wire fraud, money laundering, receipt of stolen money and conspiracy by the United States Attorney’s Office, which said she also laundered the proceeds of the scam.
If convicted of the charges, Hajia 4Reall could face up to 20 years in prison.
The New York Post reported that she pleaded not guilty to all the charges during her initial court appearances in the US.
According to the report, her lawyer, Adam Cortez, said she would be “released on home detention to her aunt’s New Jersey residence in the coming days on $500,000 bond, with GPS tracking via an ankle monitor.”
He also said that there were six alleged victims in the case, but only one claimed to have dealt with Hajia 4Reall.
The US Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York said on its website that she allegedly conned one of her victims with a fake marriage certificate from Ghana and received $89,000 from him.
“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 statement said.
“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.”
Hajia 4 Reall is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
