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Hajia4Real Extradited To US Over $2m Romance Fraud

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Social media sensation and musician, Mona Faiz Montrage popularly known as Mona4Real or Hajia4Real has been extradited to the United States from the United Kingdom over her alleged involvement in a $2 million romance scam targeting older and single American men and women.

She appeared in a Manhattan federal court on Monday, May 15, 2023 for her alleged involvement in a series of romance schemes targeting older people who lived alone,” US prosecutors said.

She pleaded not guilty to the charges and she is set to be released on home detention to her aunt’s New Jersey residence in the coming days on a $500,000 bond with GPS tracking via an ankle monitor, her lawyer and the prosecutor’s office have confirmed, according to the New York Post.

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Michael J. Driscoll, the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), announced the unsealing of a six-count Indictment charging Hajia4Real for her role in a series of romance schemes and for laundering the proceeds of those schemes.

Mona4Real is a public figure who rose to fame as an influencer through her Instagram profile, under the username “Hajia4Reall,” which at one point had approximately 3.4 million Instagram followers and was among the top 10 profiles with the most followers in Ghana.

She was arrested in the United Kingdom on November 10, 2022, and was extradited from the United Kingdom on May 12, 2023.

She was presented before U.S. District Judge Paul A. Crotty, to whom the case is assigned today.

FBI Assistant Director in Charge Michael J. Driscoll said, “We alleged today that Ms. Montrage participated in multiple romance scams – often targeting elderly victims – resulting in more than $2 million in fraudulent funds under her control.

“Romance scams – especially those that target older individuals – are of major concern. The FBI will be tireless in our efforts to hold fraudsters accountable in the criminal justice system.”

According to the court, from at least in or about 2013 through in or about 2019, the Influencer was a member of a Criminal Enterprise based in Ghana that committed a series of frauds against individuals and businesses in the United States, including romance scams.

The court said, “Many of the Enterprise’s romance scam victims were vulnerable, older men and women who lived alone. The Enterprise frequently conducted the romance scams by sending the victims emails, text messages, and social media messages that deceived the victims into believing that they were in romantic relationships with a person who had, in fact, a fake identity assumed by members of the Enterprise.

“Once members of the Enterprise had successfully convinced victims that they were in a romantic relationship and had gained their trust, they convinced the victims, under false pretences, to transfer money to bank accounts the victims believed were controlled by their romantic interests, when, in fact, the bank accounts were controlled by members of the Enterprise.”

The prosecution said, “Montrage received money from several victims of romance frauds whom members of the Enterprise tricked into sending money.

Among the false pretences used to induce victims to send money to Montrage were (i) payments to transport gold to the United States from overseas; (ii) payments to resolve a fake FBI unemployment investigation; and (iii) payments to assist a fake United States army officer in receiving funds from Afghanistan.

The court said in one incident with her victims she used her real name and spoke to the victim several times by phone.

“Montrage later sent the victim a tribal marriage certificate purporting to show that Montrage and the victim had been married in Ghana,

“The victim sent Montrage approximately 82 wire transfers totalling approximately $89,000 to purportedly help with costs associated with Montrage’s father’s farm in Ghana.”

It added that “In total, Montrage controlled bank accounts that received over $2 million in fraudulent funds from the Enterprise.”

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Peter Okoye reacts to alleged song ownership by twin brother

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Iconic Nigerian singer Peter Okoye has responded to allegations made by his twin brother Paul over ownership of a new song “Winning.”

Peter Okoye shared a detailed account of the song’s creation, clarifying his role and collaboration with others, including Ghanaian producer Vampire and songwriter Calypso.

He questioned Paul’s claims, citing their agreed-upon creative process and Paul’s removal of his (Peter’s) vocals from joint songs.

Peter also addressed his temporary break from music, stating he took time to recharge before returning with “Winning.”

He wrote on X: “If you have followed my journey as a solo artiste and even before, you will notice that I give people their due credit where necessary as I am a firm believer in teamwork; I know my strengths, where I need assistance or guidance I am not afraid to ask or work with those who are strong in the areas I am not; this includes the process of creating music, executing concepts and ideas etc. I will always credit people for their contributions to my projects.

“Sometime in June 2022, I stumbled upon a producer based in Ghana named Vampire, and my team and I also personally reached out to him via DM, that I liked his work and was interested in working with him. Before getting him to Lagos, I presented the idea of this producer to my twin brother and our team, getting their buy-in before I got him flight tickets and flew him to Lagos.“

It was when he got into Lagos I asked if he would be open to working on P-SQUARE’s next album project, that the 5 songs I had penned down from my end to be presented to our A&R team for the album project were: JAIYE, WINNING, FIND SOMEBODY, LEGENDARY, and ATTENTION, based on tracks he had produced.

“We started with my own 5 songs that needed to be submitted for PSQUARE’s album, which he produced for me: The idea for WINNING came from one of his beats that I discovered. I came up with the idea of changing the chord progression from the original version to what it is today with my own producer Goldswarm who is the co-producer of the song WINNING.

“I had also engaged a songwriter known as CALYPSO who wrote and composed the song WINNING and sent it to me on the beats through a voice note. And we started working on the song. Mind you, he worked on some other songs that were to make the album as well, so my brother was aware of his input to the production as we were all in the studio during this period.

“Then when my twin brother heard the song WINNING, which we had already created the hook/chorus for, he then wanted to start creating a verse. Our agreed-on process for each song presented by us was: arrange the song, leave a verse for the other person, then we both harmonise the chorus and refrain bits together. He wasn’t supposed to until Calypso and I finished it as part of my own song submission to the LEGENDARY ALBUM.

“After that, we finished and shared verses among ourselves. I do not wish to get into details of why the album didn’t see the light of day till date but it takes a different level of psychosis for one to steal what is theirs already; as since the release of this song, I have been labeled and called all sorts online and they have even gone as far as asking for the song to be taken down on various platforms, to what end?

“It was never part of his 5, now 6 (according to him) songs for submission, yet when he felt I was not interested in making music because I chose my sanity over the constant berating and drama that seemed to come up over creative direction in the group.

“If it were his song, why do I have all the music data including initial conversations and picture/video evidence on the above-mentioned titles/songs? Which of his songs do I have its data in my possession in that case? All because he was hoping for me to quit music. Even when I learnt that he had removed my vocals on songs we did together, suggesting that he sing the entire songs including the ones that he planned to present for the album without my input (a very absurd idea as we both make up the duo not just the one), but we both perform them on stage, I begun to have a rethink of the entire situation. Let me leave this here.

“Maybe because I was not posting anything music-related on my social media page for over 4 months. He believes I have lost interest in music. I took a breather to get my mind and head in the right space and when that was done, my epiphany was WINNING!”.

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DNA test more important than naming ceremony- Don Jazzy

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producer and executive, Don Jazzy, has urged men to prioritise the paternity of their children, stating that it is more important than a naming ceremony.

On his Instagram story, Don Jazzy emphasised: “DNA test is more important than naming ceremony.”

His statement comes amid ongoing debates about the necessity of DNA tests, fuelled by recent high-profile cases of paternity fraud.

Don Jazzy known in real life as Michael Collins Ajereh is the founder of Mavin Records – through which he has signed artistes including D’Prince, Rema, and Ayra Starr.

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Pastor Love jailed 48 months in hard labour for stealing

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Pastor Hammond Love, widely known as Pastor Love, has been convicted of theft and sentenced to 48 months in prison with hard labour.

GBC Ghana Online reports that Pastor Love, a former husband of gospel musician Obaapa Christie, was found guilty of the offence after seven years of trial. 

Before he was sentenced, Pastor Love pleaded with the court for mercy, adding that he was willing to pay any fine that would be imposed on him. 

The court presided over by Isaac Addo, took into consideration the fact that the convicted Pastor Love was a first-time offender.

The court held that as a Pastor, he was expected to hold a high level of integrity, especially in matters of trust, and therefore handed him the 48-month jail term as a fair deterrent. 

The facts of the case as presented by ASP Frimpong was that in 2016 one Samuel Amankwah, a resident of the US, shipped a 4×4 vehicle into Ghana and tasked Pastor Love to clear it from the port. 

The convict cleared the said vehicle with his money, after which the complainant told him to sell it for US$50,000 and deduct the amount he paid as duty.

Later, the complainant told Pastor Love to hold on with the sale of the vehicle as he would travel to Ghana and refund his money. 

In April 2017, the complainant arrived in the country and contacted Pastor Love for his vehicle, but he could not produce it despite several demands. 

The complainant complained with the Police and Pastor Love was arrested in May 2017. 

During interrogation, the convicted Pastor Love told the Police that he secured a loan of GH¢40,000 with 20 per cent interest to clear the vehicle and was accruing more interest, so he sold the vehicle at GH¢80,000 without the consent of the owner and paid GH¢70,000 to the loan company.

Meanwhile, Pastor Love was unable to lead the Police to the said loan company to verify the claim and could not also tell who bought the vehicle. 

The Judge said the convict was dishonest to the Court.

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