A  31-year-old Ghanaian national residing in the United States, Nana Kwabena Amuah, has been sentenced to seven years in prison for his role in a scheme to defraud the City of Lexington, Kentucky, of nearly $4 million.

The sentencing was handed down by U.S. District Judge Karen Caldwell, who also ordered Amuah, to pay back more than $4.7 million to the victims of his conspiracy.
According to the United States Attorney’s Office Eastern District of Kentucky, Amuah’s illicit activities began in 2021, when he collaborated with co-defendant, Shimea McDonald, to open bank accounts with fake identities and shell companies, to receive money from various fraud victims.

Amuah helped McDonald get fake identity documents, based on real people’s information. Once money entered into these accounts, Amuah notified McDonald and instructed her to wire or bring him the stolen funds, after she had kept a portion for herself.

Amuah, in collaboration with other co-conspirators, subsequently forwarded the funds to additional accomplices who facilitated further transfers or initiated the fraudulent schemes targeting victims.

One significant incident involved the impersonation of a nonprofit organization in August 2022. The perpetrators communicated with a City of Lexington official via email and persuaded them to wire $3,905,837.05, owed to the non-profit, to an account at Truist Bank belonging to Gretson Company LLC.

McDonald, using the identity of “K.N.,” had previously requested eight counter checks from Truist Bank to be funded with fraudulently obtained City wires. Subsequently, McDonald, using the same false identity, attempted to deposit a portion of these funds into another account under the name of Gretson Company LLC at a different financial institution.

Fortunately, both Truist Bank and the City of Lexington managed to recover all the fraudulently transferred funds. Court documents reveal that approximately 70 other victims were identified in connection with this conspiracy, with 60 of them suffering losses exceeding $4.6 million.

McDonald has been convicted for her role in the offense and is scheduled to be sentenced on December 14, 2023. A third defendant, Jean Mejia-Garcia, who attempted to deposit some of the City’s money, has been charged and is awaiting trial.

Under federal law, Amuah is required to serve 85 percent of his prison term. Following his release, he will be supervised by the U.S. Probation Office for three years.

The investigation was conducted by the FBI and the Lexington Police, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Kate Dieruf prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.

Amuah is not the only Ghanaian who has been arrested in the US this year for fraud-related offenses. In May 2023, Mona Faiz Montrage, a popular Instagram influencer known as Hajia 4Real, pleaded not guilty to charges of deceiving older, single Americans out of some $2 million through lonely hearts scams.

She allegedly used fake identities and marriage certificates to trick her victims into sending her money for various purposes. She is facing up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

theindependentghana.com