Due to her involvement in multiple scams that cheated senior citizens of their money, Ghanaian socialite Mona Montrage, also known as Hajia 4 Real, faces five years in prison.
On Wednesday, February 21st, 2024, Mona entered a guilty plea. A judge will now determine how long she will spend in prison—up to five years.
Regarding the case, the Department of Justice issued a statement outlining Hajia’s unlawful involvement.
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The sentence says…
Prominent Ghanaian “Influencer” Pleads Guilty To Receiving Fraud Proceeds From Romance Scams
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced the guilty plea today of MONA FAIZ MONTRAGE for her role in laundering the proceeds of a series of romance scams. MONTRAGE pled guilty today to conspiracy to receive stolen money before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah L. Cave.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Mona Faiz Montrage knowingly received money stolen from older Americans through romance scams and was arrested abroad and now faces serious consequences for her actions. Romance scams such as Montrage’s harmed her vulnerable, elderly victims not only in the cruel betrayal of trust in the realization that their online romantic connection was fiction, but by also callously stealing their money. This Office and our law enforcement partners are relentless in bringing fraudsters who target Americans to justice, no matter where they are.”
According to the allegations in the indictment and declarations made during open court hearings and public filings:
MONTRAGE was a part of a criminal organisation (the “Enterprise”) based in West Africa that perpetrated a number of frauds against people and companies in the United States, including romance scams, from at least in or about 2013 until at least in or about 2019.
According to the allegations in the indictment and declarations made during open court hearings and public filings:
MONTRAGE was a part of a criminal organisation (the “Enterprise”) based in West Africa that perpetrated a number of frauds against people and companies in the United States, including romance scams, from at least in or about 2013 until at least in or about 2019.
Many of the elderly, single men and women who fell victim to romance scams at the Enterprise were weak targets. The victims of the Enterprise’s romance frauds were often tricked into thinking they were in a love relationship with someone who was actually a fictitious identity that members of the Enterprise had created through emails, texts, and social media messages.
Members of the Enterprise persuaded victims to transfer money to bank accounts they mistakenly believed were controlled by their romantic interests after successfully convincing them that they were in a romantic relationship and winning their trust. In reality, the bank accounts were controlled by members of the Enterprise.
MONTRAGE is a well-known Ghanaian public figure who gained notoriety as an influencer through her Instagram account, which she used under the username “Hajia4Reall.” At one point, she had 3.4 million followers, placing her among the top 10 accounts in Ghana in terms of followers.
Many victims of romance scams who were duped into donating money by members of the Enterprise sent money to MONTRAGE. Payments to bring gold to the United States from overseas, payments to settle a fictitious FBI inquiry, and payments to help a fictitious U.S. Army commander obtain money from Afghanistan were a few of the false pretences used to coerce victims into sending money to MONTRAGE.
Over $2 million in fraudulent funds were received by bank accounts under the control of MONTRAGE from the Enterprise.
MONTRAGE, 31, of Accra, Ghana, entered a guilty plea to a charge of conspiring to obtain money that was stolen. The maximum punishment for this offence is five years in jail. Additionally, MONTRAGE consented to pay $2,164,758.41 in forfeiture and the same amount in restitution. Paul A. Crotty, the U.S. District Judge, will sentence Montage.
The maximum possible punishment in this case is set by Congress and is given here solely for informative reasons; the judge will decide on the defendant’s sentence.
Mr. Williams complimented the Federal Bureau of Investigation on its excellent work.
The Office’s Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit is prosecuting the case. The prosecution is led by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mitzi Steiner and Kevin Mead.
