Twin brothers from Ghana and a woman based in Hawaii have pleaded guilty in the United States to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in an international romance-fraud network that prosecutors say defrauded mostly older Americans of more than $9 million (yaani about 90 lakh dollars), according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Ohio released on Monday, Oct. 26.

Source: Ghana Guardian

Jamal Abubakari, also known as Jamal Abubakar and Arrangement, and his twin brother Kamal Abubakari, also known as Kamal Abubakar and Lancaster, both 22, pleaded guilty on Oct. 13. Their co-conspirator Amanda Joy Opoku-Boachie, 53, of Kula, Hawaii, pleaded guilty on Oct. 20, the statement said.

According to court documents, from about July 2024 to April 2026 the conspirators used false identities on dating websites and social media to build close, often romantic, relationships with victims, then persuaded them to send money to bank accounts controlled by members of the network. Some of the money was then passed to co-conspirators in Ghana and elsewhere.

Victims included a resident of Edgerton in Williams County, Ohio, people in 24 other U.S. states, and victims in Germany and Austria, prosecutors said. LifeBuzzHQ, reporting the same Justice Department statement, said the three face up to 20 years in prison and that the FBI's Cleveland Division led the investigation, with help from Ghana's Attorney General's Office, Economic and Organised Crime Office, Ghana Police Service and Financial Intelligence Centre.

Source: LifeBuzzHQ

As part of their pleas, the defendants agreed to forfeit jewellery seized during their arrests, including luxury watches, rings, chains, medallions and earrings, Winneba News reported. Sentencing dates were not given in the reports available on Monday.

Source: Winneba News