A Ghanaian nationwide pleaded responsible to his position in a large fraud ring that stole over $100 million from victims throughout america by means of enterprise e mail compromise assaults and romance scams.
40-year-old Derrick Van Yeboah pleaded responsible to conspiracy to commit wire fraud on Thursday and agreed to pay greater than $10 million in restitution.
Van Yeboah was a high-ranking member of a large-scale fraud operation based mostly in Ghana that focused Individuals between 2016 and Might 2023. He was extradited to the U.S. in August 2025, with accomplices Isaac Oduro Boateng (often known as “Kofi Boat”), Inusah Ahmed (“Pascal”), and Patrick Kwame Asare (“Borgar”).
In accordance with courtroom paperwork, the scammers (who referred to as themselves “recreation boys” or “sakawa boys”) deceived susceptible older men and women throughout the U.S. who lived alone into believing they have been in romantic relationships on-line and tricked them into depositing cash into the financial institution accounts of U.S. middlemen after gaining their belief.
The U.S. accomplices would then launder the cash, take their reduce of the stolen funds, and ship the remainder to members of the felony ring in West Africa, often called “chairmen,” who coordinated the fraudulent actions.
The criminals additionally tricked quite a few companies into wiring funds following enterprise e mail compromise assaults that used spoofed e mail addresses impersonating the targets’ clients or staff.
Prosecutors mentioned that Van Yeboah personally carried out most of the romance scams detailed within the indictment and linked him to greater than $10 million in losses.
“Many New Yorkers seek for companionship on-line, and nobody deserves to have their vulnerability met with fraud and theft. Van Yeboah cruelly exploited these vulnerabilities for over $10 million in illicit revenue,” U.S. Lawyer Jay Clayton mentioned.
“At present’s plea is a reminder to be vigilant on-line—particularly on relationship web sites, by no means give cash to somebody you simply met—and if it appears too good to be true, it in all probability is.”
Van Yeboah is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Decide Arun Subramanian on June 3 and is going through as much as 20 years in jail.
Malware is getting smarter. The Pink Report 2026 reveals how new threats use math to detect sandboxes and conceal in plain sight.
Obtain our evaluation of 1.1 million malicious samples to uncover the highest 10 methods and see in case your safety stack is blinded.
