After three days of trial, a federal jury in the US convicted Abdul Inusah, 31, of Ghana, for his role in a Huntington-based scheme that defrauded individuals in multiple states through the use of false online personas.
Inusah is scheduled to be sentenced on November 21, 2022, and faces a maximum penalty of 50 years in prison.
Evidence at trial revealed that Inusah was part of a conspiracy that targeted victims using false personas via email, text messaging, and online dating and social media websites.
From at least January 2018 through at least December 2019, the scheme sought to induce victims into believing they were in a romantic relationship, friendship, or business relationship with the various false personas.
The victims were persuaded to send money for a variety of false and fraudulent reasons for the benefit of the false personas, a press release posted on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia said.
It said one false persona, “Miarama,” was used to induce an Alabama resident into providing $106,000 via wire transfers and cashier’s checks.
The amount included $48,000 to pay overdue taxes on a nonexistent gold inheritance in Ghana and $21,000 wired to Bitsav Supply LLC, a shell company set up by Inusah.
Another false persona, “Grace,” persuaded a Washington resident to wire funds so “Grace” could maintain her South African cocoa plantation and move to the United States to marry the victim. Other victims of the false personas included residents of Ohio and Florida, the press release added.
The jury found Inusah guilty of receipt of stolen money, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and two counts of wire fraud.
The wire fraud counts involve a pair of $2,000 Zelle wire transfers to Inusah from the money obtained using the “Miarama” false persona in January 2019.
“It is truly heartbreaking how this conspiracy exploited individuals who were particularly vulnerable, such as following the death of a longtime spouse,” said United States Attorney Will Thompson.
“Some of the victims did not recognize themselves as victims, and continued to believe these false personas were real and that they were in actual relationships. I commend the investigative work of the United States Secret Service, the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation-Office of Inspector General (FDIC-OIG), the West Virginia State Police and the South Charleston Police Department. I also commend Assistant United States Attorneys Kathleen Robeson and R. Gregory McVey and our trial team for trying this complex fraud case before the jury,” Thompson added.
United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers presided over the jury trial.
Inusah is scheduled to be sentenced on November 21, 2022, and faces a maximum penalty of 50 years in prison.