The United States has arrested six alleged members of an international fraud and money-laundering ring that deployed spoofing, catfishing, and COVID-19 relief scams to con victims out of $55m.
The defendants are accused of creating fake identities to trick companies, the Small Business Administration (SBA), and old folks searching for romance online into wiring funds to bank accounts controlled by a criminal enterprise.
Thirty-five-year-old Farouk Appiedu was arrested on October 18 in Queens, New York. His alleged co-conspirator 24-year-old Sadick Edusei Kissi was arrested on February 5 in Fargo, North Dakota. The four remaining defendants Celvin Freeman, 37, Faisal Ali, 34, Fred Asante, 35, and Lord Aning, 28 were all arrested on February 17; Freeman and Ali in New Jersey, and Asante and Aning in Alexandria, Virginia.
Cybercriminal Enterprise Ringleaders Stole $55M Via COVID-19 Fraud, Romance Scams – Ghana Visions
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US Arrests Six Alleged Cyber-Scam Money Launderers - Infosecurity Magazine
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They are members of a Ghana-based criminal enterprise and laundered money from fraud schemes including romance scams, which targeted the elderly; fraudulent small business loans and email compromises against businesses and individuals located across the US. The suspects include Faisal Ali, aka Clarence Graveley, 34; Sadick Edusei Kissi, Farouk Appiedu, 35; Celvin Freeman, 47; Fred Asante, 35; and Lord Aning, 28; a statement by the United States Department for Justice revealed. According to the statement, the suspects, since the year 2013, have been executing frauds. It continued further that four out of the six, collectively controlled over 45 banks with deposits of approximately USD55 million. They also opened bank accounts using names of companies they formed and claimed to be dealing in food exports and imports, automobiles sales and freight trucking and shipping.