Ghanaian man pleads guilty in U.S. over $100 million romance and email fraud scheme

Nii Ayitey Brown 08:46 - 07 March 2026

Derrick Van Yeboah, a 40-year-old Ghanaian national, has pleaded guilty in the United States for his role in an international romance scam and business email compromise scheme that defrauded victims of more than $100 million.

A 40-year-old Ghanaian national, Derrick Van Yeboah, has pleaded guilty in a United States federal court for his role in a massive international fraud operation that stole more than $100 million from victims through romance scams and business email compromise schemes.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, Van Yeboah admitted to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with the transnational criminal network that targeted individuals and businesses across the United States.

Prosecutors say the fraud ring was primarily based in Ghana and relied on fake online identities and social engineering tactics to trick victims into sending large sums of money.

Derrick Van Yeboah, a Ghanaian national, pleaded guilty to stealing more than $10 million from victims through romance scams. He was a member of a criminal organization based in Ghana that preyed on vulnerable older men and women and stole, in total, more than $100 million from… pic.twitter.com/2Gw3h6nF3R
— FBI Cyber Division (@FBICyberDiv) March 6, 2026

Court documents show that Van Yeboah personally carried out several romance scams, posing as a romantic partner online to build trust with victims before convincing them to transfer money.

Many of the victims were elderly men and women seeking companionship online, investigators said.

Once trust was established, victims were persuaded to send funds directly to the fraud network or were manipulated into helping launder money obtained from other victims.U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said the crimes exploited people’s emotional vulnerability.

“Many people search for companionship online, and no one deserves to have their vulnerability met with fraud and theft,” Clayton said.

Clayton warned internet users to be cautious when interacting with strangers on dating platforms. Authorities say Van Yeboah himself is responsible for more than $10 million in losses through the romance scams he conducted.

Investigators say the fraud was part of a larger organisation that operated between 2016 and 2023, targeting dozens of victims and companies in the United States.

Besides romance scams, the group also carried out Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks, a type of cybercrime in which criminals impersonate executives or business partners through spoofed emails to trick companies into transferring money to fraudulent accounts.

Authorities say the stolen funds were often transferred through intermediaries and eventually laundered to West Africa.

Van Yeboah was extradited from Ghana to the United States in August 2025, along with other suspects linked to the fraud network, including Isaac Oduro Boateng and Inusah Ahmed.

He now faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison when he appears for sentencing before U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian on June 3, 2026.

The investigation involved cooperation between U.S. law enforcement agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and Ghanaian authorities such as the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), the Ghana Police Service and the Cyber Security Authority.

Update Me