Ghanaian influencer, Mona Faiz Montrage, with around 3.4 million Instagram followers under the username “Hajia4Reall,” has pleaded guilty to participating in a money laundering scheme associated with romance scams. The scheme, orchestrated by a West African criminal enterprise, targeted vulnerable individuals, particularly older men and women, through romance scams.

The criminal enterprise operated from at least 2013 to 2019, deceiving victims into believing they were in romantic relationships. The scammers, assuming fake identities, used various channels such as emails, text messages, and social media to establish trust. Once trust was established, victims were manipulated into transferring money to accounts supposedly controlled by their romantic interests, which were, in reality, controlled by the criminal enterprise.

Montrage 31, was part of this criminal enterprise and received money from victims tricked into sending funds. The false pretenses used included payments for transporting gold to the U.S., resolving fake FBI investigations, and assisting a fictitious U.S. Army officer in receiving funds from Afghanistan. In total, she controlled bank accounts that received over $2 million in fraudulent funds.

She has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to receive stolen money, with a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Additionally, Hajia4reall has agreed to pay forfeiture totaling $2,164,758.41 and make restitution in the same amount. Sentencing will be determined by U.S. District Judge Paul A. Crotty.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation, and the case is being prosecuted by the Office’s Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit, led by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mitzi Steiner and Kevin Mead. Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, commended the outstanding work of the FBI in this case.