An American court has sentenced Inusah Fuseini, the son of a former minister of lands and natural resources and former member of parliament for Tamale Central, to two years in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release.
Abdul Inusah, 32, was sentenced after being found guilty for his part in a Huntington, California, scheme that used false online personas to defraud people in various states.
According to information taken from a statement by the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia, the trial took three days to complete before a federal jury rendered a verdict.
Abdul Inusah was found guilty for participating in a “conspiracy that targeted victims using false personas via email, text messaging, online dating websites, and social media platforms, according to a statement from the United States Attorney dated Thursday, March 23, 2023.
“From at least January 2018 through at least December 2019, the scheme participants sought to induce victims into believing they were in a romantic relationship, friendship, or business relationship with the various false personas. The victims were persuaded to send money for a variety of false and fraudulent reasons for the benefit of the false personas.”
The statement also listed some of the victims’ names and the various sums of money that were related to this case.
Inusah’s involvement, it continued, was primarily facilitated by a shell company set up in his name and utilized in the crimes.
READ ALSO: US Court Denies Hajia4Reall Bail
“One false persona, ‘Miarama,’ was used to induce an Alabama resident into providing $106,000 via wire transfers and cashier’s checks. The amount included $48,000 to pay overdue taxes on a nonexistent gold inheritance in Ghana and $21,000 wired to Bitsav Supply LLC, a shell company set up by Inusah. Another false persona, ‘Grace,’ persuaded a Washington resident to wire funds so ‘Grace’ could maintain her South African cocoa plantation and move to the United States to marry the victim. Other victims of the false personas included residents of Ohio and Florida.
“The federal jury found Inusah guilty of receipt of stolen money, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and two counts of wire fraud on August 12, 2022. Perhaps more than others involved, Abdul Inusah understood the scope of the criminal conspiracy and that it was exploiting innocent and often vulnerable victims,” Will Thompson, the US Attorney, is alleged to have said.
In an effort to hide his own participation in the fraud, Abdul Inusah is also alleged to have recruited others into the romance scheme.
Inusah Fuseini’s son speaks out following allegations of US fraud
After news of his alleged involvement in money laundering and wire fraud in the United States of America surfaced, Abdul Inusah broke his silence on August 25, 2022.
In response to the reports, troubled Abdul Inusah reiterated his father’s explanations in an interview with Asaase Radio.
He claims that he was given information about the indictment that connected him to some charges.
He received the indictment via text message in June of the same year, despite it having been filed on April 27.
He recalled that after this, he got in touch with his attorneys, who took it up, and the case moved forward. In relation to the said money, he was charged with receiving stolen property and wire fraud totaling $20,000.
