Ghana

Ghanaian sentenced to almost 6 Years In Prison in America for multimillion-dollar fraud

Friday, July 02, 2021 at 3:53 PM by G. Hamelo

A Ghanaian has been sentenced to almost six years in prison in American for fraud
Deborah Mensah was handed over to American authorities for her crimes in August 2020
She pleaded guilty to the charges in April 2021 of duping people of over $10 million

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Deborah Mensah has been sentenced to almost six years in prison for participating in a scheme to conceal millions of dollars gained through fraudulent means.

Together with other members of her team, they are said to have "targeted the elderly from at least in or about 2014 through in or about 2018" according to Audrey Strauss, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York per a press statement dated July 1st, 2021.

Ghanaian sentenced to almost 6 Years In Prison for multimillion-dollar money-laundering conspiracy. Photo source: Instagram @reuters, @ernstphotodc
Source: Instagram

Mensah was handed over to the American authorities from Ghana on August 21, 2020. She then pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit money laundering on August 2, 2021, before U.S. District Judge Denise L. Cote, who imposed the sentence.

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“Deborah Mensah was a member of an international criminal enterprise that stole millions of dollars from businesses and vulnerable individuals across the United States and laundered that money through a network of bank accounts in the Bronx. Having previously been extradited from Ghana, Deborah Mensah has now been sentenced to a term in a U.S. prison for her crime,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney, Audrey Strauss said.

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In addition to the sentence, the 34-year was also sentenced to three years of supervised release. In addition, Mensah was ordered to forfeit $202,964 and pay restitution of $1,505,519 to victims.

Mensah and her co-conspirators received or otherwise directed the receipt of over $10 million in fraud proceeds from victims of the Enterprise into bank accounts that she and other members of the Enterprise controlled in the Bronx, New York.