Lawyers for Ghanaian businessman Frederick Kumi, popularly known as Abu Trica, say prosecutors failed to present sufficient evidence linking him directly to alleged romance fraud offences before his extradition to the United States.

Speaking on Asaase Breakfast Show on Friday (10 July), co-counsel Papa Kofi Essel Hakman argued that the evidence presented during extradition proceedings relied largely on an undercover FBI operation rather than complaints from alleged victims.

“The package they brought relied on an undercover FBI agent,” he said.

“They alleged romance scams involving women in the United States, yet they did not provide the names of those women.”

Hakman said the only direct evidence presented involved an operation arranged by undercover investigators, which he described as entrapment.

He also suggested the case appeared to rely largely on Kumi’s alleged associations with other suspects.

“The Justice Department itself linked him with others they had arrested. It appears to be a matter of association,” he said.

Hakman further questioned the authenticity of electronic evidence in an era increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence.

“Electronic evidence is not simply screenshots,” he said.

“You need metadata, hash values and proper preservation of the digital evidence.”

He warned that advances in AI mean digital material should undergo forensic authentication before courts rely on it.

“With fake news and AI today, things can look authentic. But proper forensic examination may show otherwise.”

Hakman said the defence had sought to cross-examine the undercover FBI agent and examine the digital evidence during proceedings in Ghana but was not allowed to do so.

He argued that courts should subject electronic evidence to greater scrutiny as AI-generated material becomes increasingly sophisticated.

“The authenticity of electronic evidence is becoming just as important as proving guilt,” he said.