Derrick Van Yeboah, 41, was sentenced to 85 months after prosecutors say he used fake identities from 2015–2024 to steal $10,149,429.17 in romance scams targeting mostly older and vulnerable U.S. victims. Acting as part of a Ghana-based criminal network that also ran business email compromise schemes, the broader conspiracy is accused of stealing and laundering more than $100 million. Van Yeboah was extradited in August 2025, pleaded guilty in March 2026, and received forfeiture plus two years of supervised release.
Ghanaian Convicted After Posing as Lovers and Stealing Over $10M in Romance Scams
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Derrick Van Yeboah, a 41-year-old Ghanaian national, was sentenced to 85 months in federal prison after prosecutors said he stole $10,149,429.17 by posing as romantic partners and persuading victims to transfer or launder money.
What Prosecutors Say
Federal authorities say Van Yeboah operated within a larger Ghana-based criminal network that ran romance scams and business email compromise (BEC) schemes targeting individuals and companies across the United States. According to court records cited by CyberScoop, Van Yeboah directly impersonated romantic partners from February 2015 through October 2024.
How the Scams Worked
Members of the group created fake online identities and built emotional relationships with victims seeking companionship. After gaining trust, they urged victims to send money or to receive and transfer funds that were actually proceeds of fraud against other targets. Some victims were older or otherwise vulnerable and lost retirement savings or were tricked into opening accounts or companies to help launder stolen funds.
Notable Cases and Losses
Investigators identified at least 20 victims linked to Van Yeboah. In separate schemes in 2019 and 2020, two women in Ohio and Delaware transferred roughly $4.2 million into accounts controlled by members of the organization—about $2.3 million attributed to the Ohio case and about $1.9 million to the Delaware case. Another victim moved about $1 million through the operation. In 2024, Van Yeboah used a different alias to defraud a man in North Carolina of about $123,000 with a fabricated story about funeral expenses and purported gold and diamonds in Italy.
Scope Of The Conspiracy
Prosecutors say the broader conspiracy—combining romance frauds and BEC schemes—stole and laundered more than $100 million from dozens of individuals and businesses. The organization moved proceeds through accounts controlled by participants or unwitting intermediaries before sending funds to West Africa. The court held Van Yeboah personally responsible for $10,149,429.17 generated through his romance-scam activity.
Legal Proceedings And Penalties
Ghanaian authorities arrested Van Yeboah; he was extradited to the United States on Aug. 7, 2025, and pleaded guilty on March 5, 2026, to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian sentenced him on July 28, 2026, to 85 months in prison, ordered two years of supervised release, and imposed forfeiture of $10,149,429.17. The Department of Justice’s announcement did not specify a separate restitution amount or a timeline for returning funds to victims.
Advice For Potential Victims
The Federal Trade Commission warns never to receive and forward money for an online romantic interest—those transfers may be proceeds stolen from other victims. If you have transferred funds, contact every bank, wire service, payment app or cryptocurrency exchange involved immediately to ask whether a pending transfer can be stopped or recalled.
The FBI recommends preserving transaction details (date, payment type, amount, account numbers, receiving institution, cryptocurrency wallet addresses or transaction hashes) and filing a report through the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3.gov). The FBI also warns victims to avoid anyone promising recovery of lost funds for an up-front fee, as recovery scams frequently target people whose losses have been publicly shared.
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