Beautiful Ghanaian socialite, Mona Faiz Montrage, widely known as Hajia4Reall, may potentially face a maximum prison sentence of up to 20 years if convicted for her alleged involvement in a $2 million romance scam. Mona4Reall was extradited from the United Kingdom to the United States, where she appeared in a Manhattan federal court on May 15th to face charges related to romance scam, commonly known as ‘sakawa.’ However, she pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The 30-year-old model was granted bail on a $500,000 bond with GPS tracking through an ankle monitor. She will be released to home detention at her aunt’s residence in New Jersey in the near future. The charges against Hajia4Reall include participating in romance schemes and money laundering related to those schemes, as outlined in a six-count Indictment unsealed by 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).
According to the prosecutors, Mona4Reall was allegedly involved with a group of scammers from West Africa between 2013 and 2019. They used fake identities to deceive individuals, primarily older, single Americans, into believing they were in romantic relationships through emails, texts, and social media messages. The indictment stated that she received money from several victims of romance fraud through various false pretenses, such as payments for transporting gold, resolving fake FBI investigations, and assisting a fake U.S. army officer in receiving funds from Afghanistan.
The court disclosed that Mona4Reall had control over bank accounts that received over $2 million in fraudulent funds from the scam operation. In one instance, she used her real name and engaged in phone conversations with a victim, even sending a tribal marriage certificate purporting to show that they were married in Ghana. The victim, believing the ruse, sent approximately 82 wire transfers totaling around $89,000 to assist with costs related to Mona4Reall’s father’s farm in Ghana.
The charges brought against the Ghanaian musician include conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, money laundering conspiracy, money laundering, receipt of stolen money, and conspiracy to receive stolen money. These charges carry maximum prison sentences ranging from five to twenty years.
