It has emerged that influencer and musician Mona Faiz Montrage 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.
Hajia4Real had initially pleaded not guilty to her involvement in an internet romance scam. But what could have made her change her mind? Hajia in all of her interviews before her arrest and extradition to the United States, had said she came by all her wealth through hard work. In such a high-profile case involving a known social media influencer, there are a few reasons that will force her to change her plea.
In the case of Mona 4 Real, a plea bargaining process may have been initiated by her defense team. Plea bargaining, in law, is the practice of negotiating an agreement between the prosecution and the defense whereby the defendant pleads guilty to a lesser offense or (in the case of multiple offenses) to one or more of the offenses charged in exchange for more lenient sentencing, recommendations, a specific sentence, or a dismissal of other charges.
Mona Faiz Montrage and her team may have thought of the money and time that was going to go into taking the whole case to trial. She will benefit in many ways including the following if she admits before a judge that she indeed had something to do with the case brought against her.
Multiple Grounds For Appeal: Mona will waive a few rights for pleading guilty but once convicted of her crimes, she has multiple avenues to appeal the conviction for a lesser sentence.
Known Trial Outcome: Pleading guilty will give Mona certainty for the convictions brought against her. Should she have opted to go for the full trial, the end would not been known. When she is found guilty on multiple grounds, her sentencing may be longer than the 5 years she’s looking to get.
Cost and Quicker resolution: With Mona’s accounts currently frozen and know properties under a tight grip, she may not have the financial means to go for a long trial. Once she has also confirmed giving “some” of the money back to the affected persons, she can get a quicker resolution to the trial without any long proceedings.
The downside of Mona’s current position is that she will have a criminal record to her name, she will be unable to defend herself otherwise of the crimes she’s been accused of, and her pride and state of innocence will be taken away from her.
The hope is that she endures all this and comes out as a reformed individual willing to put her influence into the good of society.