Ghana is internationally recognized as a peace-loving country, a beacon of democracy, and home to some of the most welcoming citizens in the world.
However, in recent months, the image of the country has been somewhat tarnished by the actions of a few individuals.
Since 2023, some Ghanaians have been involved in various illicit activities such as money laundering, romance scams (sakawa), and gun smuggling.
In the United States alone, over 10 Ghanaians have been arrested for engaging in illegal activities.
Here are some notable cases of Ghanaians whose arrests in the US have made headlines.
Abdul Inusah
The son of a former Minister of Lands and Natural Resources and former Member of Parliament for Tamale Central, Inusah Fuseini, was sentenced by an American court to two years in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release in 2023.
The 32-year-old Abdul Inusah was sentenced after being found guilty for his role in a Huntington-based scheme that defrauded individuals in multiple states through false online personas and was also ordered to pay $128,000 in restitution.
The details, culled from a statement from the US Attorney’s Office Southern District of West Virginia, said that the trial was decided by a federal jury after three days in court.
Eric Nana Kofi Ampong Coker
A Ghanaian based in Columbia, Maryland, Eric Nana Kofi Ampong Coker, pleaded guilty to illegally exporting firearms to Ghana from the US in 2023.
According to the United States Attorney’s Office of the District of Maryland, Ampong Coker, on Thursday, June 8, 2023, confessed to exporting firearms to Ghana without the required licence or written approval to export the weapons.
The district attorney’s office indicated that Ampong Coker, since 2017, has purchased at least 81 firearms from three separate Maryland Federal Firearms Licensees (“FFLs”).
Hajia4reall
On Wednesday, February 21, 2024, Ghanaian socialite, Mona Faiz Montrage, widely known as Hajia4Reall, pleaded guilty in a $2 million romance scam case in the United States of America (USA) and was subsequently jailed.
According to the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Hajia4Reall was part of a notorious ‘sakawa’ empire which operates in Ghana and West Africa, known as ‘The Enterprise.’ – a cyber-fraud criminal gang that ripped off victims to the tune of $50 million from various parts of the US.
The other members of the gang, including Farouk Appiedu, Fred Asante, Celvin Freeman, Lord Aning, Sadick Edusei Kissi, and Faisal Ali, most of them linked to Ghana, were arrested in 2021.
Major Kojo Owusu Dartey
A Ghanaian soldier with the United States Army, Major Kojo Owusu Dartey, has also been found guilty of smuggling guns to Ghana, using blue barrels containing rice and home goods.
According to a report by the United States Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of North Carolina, dated April 29, 2024, Major Kojo Dartey faces a maximum of 240 months in prison.
The sentencing, according to the report, will be delivered on July 23, 2024.
Former MD of Tema Oil Refinery, Asante Kwaku Berko
Former Managing Director of Tema Oil Refinery, Asante Kwaku Berko, is the latest to be prosecuted by the government of the US.
He is accused of bribing Ghanaian government officials using the financial system of the United States and was extradited from the United Kingdom to the US on Monday, July 15, 2024.
According to a press release by the US Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of New York, Kwaku Berko has been indicted for allegedly violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and money laundering after he bribed Ghanaian government officials to secure a power plant deal and laundered the payments through the US financial system.