{"id":106382,"date":"2025-12-11T20:03:26","date_gmt":"2025-12-11T20:03:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=106382"},"modified":"2025-12-11T20:03:26","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T20:03:26","slug":"ghanaian-national-abu-trica-charged-with-8m-romance-scam-targeting-elderly-victims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=106382","title":{"rendered":"Ghanaian National Abu Trica charged with $8m romance scam targeting elderly victims"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>2 Minute, 40 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>
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A federal grand jury has returned a 2-count indictment charging a Ghanaian National, Frederick Kumi, aka Emmanuel Kojo Baah Obeng, aka Abu Trica, with defrauding elderly victims out of over $8 million.<\/p>\n

According to a recently unsealed indictment, Abu Trica, 31, from Swedru, was part of a criminal network that targeted elderly victims in romance scams across the United States since 2023.\u00a0He was arrested in Ghana on December 11, 2025.<\/p>\n

According to the indictment, perpetrators of this romance scam used Artificial Intelligence software to assume false identities and form close personal relationships with victims.<\/p>\n

They gained victims\u2019 trust to obtain money and valuables, often targeting individuals through social media and online dating platforms under false pretenses.<\/p>\n

Victims were often elderly and engaged in romantic but physically distant relationships with perpetrators.\u00a0 The perpetrators built trust through frequent, intimate conversations by phone, email, and messaging platforms.<\/p>\n

They then requested money or valuables under false pretenses, such as urgent medical needs, travel expenses, or investment opportunities.\u00a0Relying on these misrepresentations, victims were persuaded to send funds or valuables, which were then directed to co-conspirators posing as third parties.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The indictment also alleges that after the victims transferred funds, Abu Trica worked with a network of co-conspirators to distribute the money from Ohio and across the United States to associates in the Republic of Ghana and other locations.<\/p>\n

Abu Trica has been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering conspiracy, and a forfeiture specification, and faces up to 20 years in prison.<\/p>\n

If convicted, a defendant\u2019s sentence will be determined by the Court after a review of factors unique to this case, including a defendant\u2019s prior criminal record, if any, his role in the offense, and the characteristics of the violation. In all cases, the sentences will not exceed the statutory maximum, and in most cases, it will be less than the maximum.<\/p>\n

An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt.\u00a0A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it is the government\u2019s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.<\/p>\n

The investigation preceding the indictment was conducted by the FBI Cleveland Division and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney\u00a0Brian M. McDonough\u00a0for the Northern District of Ohio.<\/p>\n

The U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office for the Northern District of Ohio acknowledged and thanked Ghana\u2019s Attorney General\u2019s Office, EOCO \u2013 Ghana Economic Organised Crime Office, GPS \u2013 Ghana Police Service, Ghana Cyber Security Authority, NACOC \u2013 Ghana Narcotics Control Commission, Ghana National Intelligence Bureau, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration\u2019s Sensitive Investigation Unit, U.S. Department of Homeland Security\u2019s Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Department of Justice\u2019s Office of International Affairs, and FBI Legal Attach\u00e9 Office in Accra for their cooperation with this matter.<\/p>\n

The investigation and prosecution of this case is in response to the Elder Justice Initiative Program originating from the Elder Abuse Prevention and Prosecution Act of 2017 (EAPPA). <\/p>\n

The mission of the EAPPA and Elder Justice Initiative is to support and coordinate the Department of Justice\u2019s enforcement efforts to combat elder abuse, neglect, financial fraud, and scams that target the nation\u2019s elderly population.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"GhanaianA federal grand jury has returned a 2-count indictment charging a Ghanaian National, Frederick Kumi, aka Emmanuel Kojo Baah Obeng, aka Abu Trica, with defrauding elderly victims out of over $8 million.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13732,50,1951,1883,10,9,13733],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-106382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-abu-trica","category-crime","category-hp-news-1","category-national","category-politics","category-popular","category-romance-scam"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=106382"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106382\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=106382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=106382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=106382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}