Twin brothers from Ghana and a 53-year-old American woman have pleaded guilty to running an international romance-fraud network that defrauded elderly victims out of a combined $9 million between July 2024 and April 2026.
Jamal and Kamal Abubakari, 22, and Amanda Joy Opoku-Boachie, 53, of Hawaii, used fake identities on dating sites and social media to convince victims they were in genuine romantic relationships before persuading them to wire large sums to bank accounts in Ghana, according to federal prosecutors in Ohio, where the charges were filed. Many victims were in Ohio, but others were spread across 24 additional US states as well as Germany and Austria. The three defendants face up to 20 years in prison and are scheduled to be sentenced next year.
Jewelry seized, part of a wider crackdown
As part of their plea agreements, the Abubakaris and Opoku-Boachie agreed to forfeit jewelry investigators seized during their arrests, including luxury watches, rings, chains and earrings. The case is one of several the US has pursued this year against romance-scam networks operating out of West Africa; FBI Director Kash Patel said earlier this month that the bureau had made hundreds of arrests after dismantling a scam center in Ghana, and in June a Ghanaian social media influencer known as Abu Trica was extradited to the US to face trial over an alleged $8 million romance scam targeting elderly Americans.
Prosecutors say the case underscores a pattern US authorities have increasingly flagged: criminal networks building long-running, emotionally manipulative relationships with isolated or widowed older adults specifically to extract large wire transfers over months, often under the pretext of medical emergencies or travel costs.