Ghanaian socialite and musician Mona Faiz Montrage, also known as Hajia 4Reall, was extradited from the United Kingdom to the United States for allegedly defrauding older, unmarried American women and men of more than $2 million in a romance scam.
Montrage, 30, is charged with 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.
She is also charged with one count of receipt of stolen money, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, and one count of conspiracy to receive stolen money, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
Montrage appeared in Manhattan federal court on Monday and pleaded not guilty to the charges, and according to her counsel, she will be released in the coming days on a $500,000 bail with GPS monitoring via an ankle monitor.
The procecutors said she’s been participating in a series of romance scams from at least 2013 through 2019, that targeted older people who lived alone, along with a group of con artists from West Africa who assumed false identities to deceive individuals into believing they were in relationships with them via email, text, and phone conversations.
In a statement published on the US Attorney’s Office official website, “the scammers would then get the victims to transfer 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, court papers allege.
“Montrage, in one case, allegedly duped a victim into sending her $89,000 through 82 wire transfers on the pretext of helping her father’s farm in Ghana, the court documents claim.“
She tricked the person into believing the pair were married by sending them a tribal marriage certificate after a series of phone conversations using her real identity, the filing alleges.”
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams went on to say: As alleged, Mona Faiz Montrage was a member of a criminal conspiracy that specifically targeted older Americans through romance scams,” Manhattan US Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement. “These scams can be both financially and emotionally devastating for vulnerable victims.”
Thanks to the efforts of our law enforcement partners, Montrage was arrested abroad and has been brought to the United States to face justice,”
Hajia 4Reall was apprehended in the United Kingdom airport while returning from participating in the Ghana Music Awards UK 2022 show on November 10, 2022, and extradited to the United States on November 15.
Montrage’s lawyer Adam Cortez told The Post: “At this time all we know is that there are six alleged victims and only two dealt with a woman and only one of them claims that he dealt with Ms. Montrage.”
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