Hajia4Reall was extradited from the UK to the US on charges that she conned elderly, lonely Americans out of more than $2 million in a sickening lonely hearts scam.
The Ghanaian social media influencer, real name Mona Faiz Montrage, reportedly appeared in federal court in Manhattan on Monday for her alleged involvement in several romance scams, according to information from Federal prosecutors.
The prosecution claims that Hajia4Reall specifically targeted elderly and single Americans who were living alone with their romance scam.
According to reports sighted by InsightNewsgh.com, ‘she entered a not-guilty plea to the allegations, and according to her attorney, she will be released in the upcoming days on a $500,000 bail with GPS monitoring via an ankle monitor’.
Prosecutors claim that between at least 2013 and 2019, Hajia4Reall collaborated with a group of con artists from West Africa who used emails, texts, and social media posts to deceive people into believing they were in relationships with them.
The feds add that “the scammers would then get the victims to transfer money to them under false pretences — such as to help move gold to the US from overseas, to resolve bogus FBI investigations and payments to help fake US Army officers in Afghanistan, court papers allege.
Montrage, in one case, allegedly duped a victim into sending her $89,000 through 82 wire transfers on the pretext of helping her father’s farm in Ghana, the court documents claim.
She tricked the person into believing the pair were married by sending them a tribal marriage certificate after a series of phone conversations using her real identity, the filing alleges”.
“As alleged, Mona Faiz Montrage was a member of a criminal conspiracy that specifically targeted older Americans through romance scams,” Manhattan US Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement. “These scams can be both financially and emotionally devastating for vulnerable victims.”
“Thanks to the efforts of our law enforcement partners, Montrage was arrested abroad and has been brought to the United States to face justice,” the statement continued.
On November 10, 2022, Hajia4Reall was detained in the UK for the alleged conspiracy and extradited to the US on Friday. She is currently facing charges for conspiracy, money laundering, receiving stolen property, and wire fraud. If found guilty of the main charge, she could spend up to 20 years in prison.
“At this time, all we know is that there are six alleged victims, only two dealt with a woman, and only one of them claims that he dealt with Ms. Montrage,” said Montrage’s attorney Adam Cortez to The Washington Post.
