Ringleaders of a Ghana-based criminal enterprise have been arrested in the US over a $50m laundering charge according to a US government report.
The 6 ringleaders, Appiedu, Asante, Freeman, Aning, Kissi, and Ali “were members of a criminal enterprise based in Ghana that committed a series of business email compromises and romance scams against individuals and businesses located across the United States, including in the Southern District of New York.”
IRS-CI Special Agent in Charge Jonathan D. Larsen said the “arrests of the alleged ringleaders of this more than $50 million scheme today dealt a death blow to the vast criminal activity in which the defendants were engaged, including elderly scams, COVID-19 fraud, money laundering, among others. IRS Criminal Investigation will continue to aggressively pursue those who profit from illegal activity and ensure they are brought to justice.”
According to the statement, a vast majority of the deposits consisted of large wire transfers and cheque or cash deposits from various US-based individuals and entities.
It added that as part of the investigation, four luxury vehicles suspected to have been purchased with the proceeds of fraud had been seized, the statement said.
The vehicles were two 2019 Rolls Royce Cullinans, a 2020 Bentley Continental GT, and a 2020 Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG.
