Hajia4real, Mona Faiz Montrage Sentenced for Romance Scams in the US
Mona Faiz Montrage, popularly known as Hajia4real, has been sentenced in the US for her involvement in romance scams. According to Inner City Press on Twitter, the judge sentenced Montrage to one year and one day in prison, with the extra day allowing for “good time.”
Montrage’s defense team proposed that she be allowed to return to Ghana immediately upon release, avoiding ICE detention, to which the Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) consented.
Montrage pleaded guilty on February 21 in Manhattan Federal Court to conspiracy to receive stolen money. Federal authorities revealed that she controlled bank accounts that received over $2 million in fraudulent funds. Montrage and her accomplices deceived their victims into believing they were helping move gold to the US, resolve fake FBI investigations, and assist US Army officers in Afghanistan.
The fraudulent funds were deposited into Montrage’s Bronx bank accounts before she transferred much of the money to her native Ghana. One victim was convinced to send $89,000 through 82 wire transfers, believing they were aiding Montrage’s father’s farm in Ghana. Montrage further deceived this victim by sending a fake tribal marriage certificate, making them believe they were married.
“Romance scams such as Montrage’s harmed her vulnerable, elderly victims not only in the cruel betrayal of trust in the realization that their online romantic connection was fiction, but by also callously stealing their money,”
said Manhattan US Attorney Damian Williams.
Montrage’s sentencing marks a significant conclusion to a case highlighting the devastating impact of online romance scams.