These Ghanaians were among eight persons charged on February 14, 2018, according to a statement from the Attorney General of the US Southern District of Ohio’s office.

Eight Central Ohio defendants charged on Valentine’s Day have now been indicted by a grand jury for conspiring to launder and for laundering the proceeds of online romance scams.

The eight persons have been identified as Kwabena M. Bonsu, Kwasi A. Oppong, Kwame Ansah, John Y. Amoah, Samuel Antwi, King Faisal Hamidu, Nkosiyoxoxo Msuthu and Cynthia Appiagyei.

According to the indictment, the accused exhibited fraudulent intent when they created several profiles on online dating sites.

They are believed to have defrauded at least 26 victims who have been identified thus far.

They contacted men and women throughout the United States “with whom they cultivated a sense of affection, and often, romance.”

“After establishing relationships, perpetrators of the romance scams allegedly requested money, typically for investment or need-based reasons, and provided account information and directions for where money should be sent. In part, these accounts were controlled by the defendants. Typical wire amounts ranged from $10,000 to more than $100,000 per wire,” the statement revealed.

The Attorney General’s office said the money was not used for the purposes claimed by the fraudsters but instead used for “transactions designed to conceal, such as withdrawing cash, transferring funds to other accounts and purchasing assets and sending the assets overseas.”

It is also alleged that the individuals used some of the fraud proceeds to purchase salvaged vehicles sold online for export to Ghana.

Fictitious reasons for investment requests included gold, diamond, oil and gas pipeline opportunities in Africa.

Websites used involve Match.com, ChristianMingle.com, BabyBoomerPeopleMeet.com, PlentyofFish.com, OurTime.com, EHarmony.com and Facebook.

Find below a section of the statement

In one example, a victim believed she was in a serious relationship with a person named “Frank Wilberg” whom she met on Match.com. She believed they planned to marry and paid $3,000 to reserve a wedding site, and had purchased a wedding gown and shoes.

“Wilberg” told the victim he owned a consulting firm that tested gold for purity and needed money to buy gold and gold contracts. He said he expected to profit $6 million and would repay her with the profits. The victim wired money to accounts controlled by Amoah, Bonsu, Msuthu, and Appiagyei, and did not receive any money back.

In furtherance of the scheme, the co-conspirators allegedly created several companies, some of which were shell companies, to help attempt to hide the true nature of their proceeds.

“The defendants attempted to launder millions of dollars in proceeds earned from an online romance scam through a series of financial transactions intended to conceal their illegal activities,” said Ryan L. Korner, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation, Cincinnati Field Office.

U.S. Attorney Glassman commended the investigation of this case by the IRS Criminal Investigation, U.S. Postal Inspection Service and HSI, as well as Assistant United States Attorney Peter K. Glenn-Applegate, who is prosecuting the case.

An indictment merely contains allegations, and defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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It said President Donald Trump would be held accountable for “every drop of blood flowing in Muslim countries” and ended “I love Islamic state”.

The hacking was carried out by a group calling itself Team System DZ.

The Ohio governor’s website was down for maintenance for some time on Sunday, before coming back online.

The message in the hacking attack contained an Arabic symbol and was written mainly in the black and white used in the flag of so-called Islamic State.

The message on Mr Kasich’s site also played an Islamic call to prayer.

The message read: “You will be held accountable Trump, you and all your people for every drop of blood flowing in Muslim countries.”

A spokeswoman for Mr Kasich, Emmalee Kalmbach, said in a statement: “As soon as we were notified of the situation, we immediately began to correct it, and will continue to monitor until fully resolved.”

A number of other officials website were affected, including those of the Ohio Office of Health Transformation and the Ohio Department of Medicaid. They later came back online as well.

However, the websites of Ohio’s First Lady Karen Kasich, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections and the Ohio Inspector General were still down for maintenance at midnight (04:00 GMT on Monday).

Ohio State Treasurer Josh Mandel posted a tweet telling “freedom-loving Americans” that radical Islam was “infiltrating the heartland”.

The New York Post said the website of the New York state town of Brookhaven was also affected.

The group known as Team System DZ has carried out a number of hacking sprees in the past, many carrying anti-Israel messages.

The US is currently holding high-level inquiries into alleged cyber attacks by Russia aimed at influencing the result of last year’s presidential election.

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Source: BBC

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