Hackers Extradited to US Over $100 Million Romance Scams and Other Frauds

United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, alongside FBI Assistant Director in Charge Christopher G. Raia, announced the unsealing of a federal indictment against four Ghanaian nationals implicated in a sophisticated international fraud network.

The defendants, identified as Isaac Oduro Boateng (alias “Kofi Boat”), Inusah Ahmed (alias “Pascal”), Derrick Van Yeboah (alias “Van”), and Patrick Kwame Asare (alias “Borgar”), are accused of orchestrating romance scams and business email compromise (BEC) operations that siphoned over $100 million from victims across the United States.

This case underscores the evolving threat of cyber-enabled financial crimes, where perpetrators leverage social engineering tactics, phishing methodologies, and digital anonymity to exploit vulnerabilities in online communications and financial systems.

Money Laundering Conspiracy

The indictment details a multi-layered conspiracy rooted in Ghana, where the group operated as a hierarchical criminal enterprise.

Employing advanced techniques such as spoofed email domains and fabricated online personas ...