A 40-year-old Ghanaian man, Derrick Van Yeboah, has pleaded guilty in the United States to his role in a large-scale online fraud scheme that targeted victims through romance scams and business email compromise, stealing more than $100 million.
According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Van Yeboah, on Friday, March 6, admitted to conspiracy to commit wire fraud before Arun Subramanian, a judge at the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
The announcement was made by Jay Clayton, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, who said Van Yeboah played a key role in an international criminal network that defrauded victims across the United States.
“Derrick Van Yeboah pled guilty today to a massive criminal scheme targeting elderly men and women in online romance scams,” Clayton said. “Many New Yorkers search for companionship online, and no one deserves to have their vulnerability met with fraud and theft. Van Yeboah cruelly exploited those vulnerabilities for over $10 million in illicit profit.”
Court documents indicate that Van Yeboah was part of a criminal organisation primarily based in Ghana that carried out romance scams and business email compromise schemes targeting individuals and companies across the United States.
Victims, many of them elderly, were deceived into believing they were in genuine romantic relationships online with people who were actually using fake identities created by members of the group.
After gaining the victims’ trust, the conspirators persuaded them to send money or assist in laundering funds obtained from other victims.
The group also carried out business email compromise scams, tricking companies into wiring money to accounts controlled by the criminal network.
Investigators say the organisation stole and laundered more than $100 million from dozens of victims, with the proceeds eventually transferred to West Africa.
Van Yeboah personally carried out several of the romance scams by impersonating fake romantic partners while communicating with victims online. Authorities say he is responsible for more than $10 million in losses linked to his activities.
Under U.S. law, the charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Van Yeboah has also agreed to pay restitution and forfeiture totaling $10,149,429.17.
He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 3, 2026.
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