‘DEVASTATING’

Influencer Charged in $2M+ Romance Scam Scheme

Mona Faiz Montrage targeted older people who lived alone, prosecutors say.

A Ghanaian Instagram influencer took part in a fraud scheme which duped vulnerable, elderly Americans out of over $2 million, prosecutors say. Mona Faiz Montrage, 30, has been charged with multiple offenses including wire fraud and money laundering for her role in a series of alleged romance scams, the DOJ said in a news release Monday. Between 2013 and 2019, Montrage was part of a group of scammers who would contact victims through online dating and social media apps, make them think they were entering into a romantic relationship, and then start asking for money, prosecutors claim. In one case, Montrage allegedly sent a victim a “tribal marriage certificate” purporting to show that she had married the victim in Ghana. That person sent her around $89,000 via 82 wire transfers, prosecutors claim. Montrage was arrested in November in the U.K. and extradited to the U.S. on May 12. She pleaded not guilty on Monday, her attorney told CNN.