Ghanaian Socialite and Musician Hajia4Real Pleads Guilty to Romance Scam, Agrees to Pay $4M in Total
Hajia4Reall, also known as Mona Faiz Montrage, has admitted to partaking in laundering the proceeds of a series of romance scams and is set to pay the American authorities over $4M as a result.
This was confirmed by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York on February 21, 2024. In an official report, Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney said that “MONTRAGE pled guilty today to conspiracy to receive stolen money before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah L. Cave.”
The report also detailed that “Mona Faiz Montrage knowingly received money stolen from older Americans through romance scams and was arrested abroad and now faces serious consequences for her actions.”
As part of her remorse for her involvement in the romance scam, Hajia4Real has agreed to pay forfeiture for $2,164,758.41 and make restitution in the same amount, totaling $4,329,516.82, plus $2,164,758.41 paid to the victims and an equal amount to the U.S. authorities.
This legal battle for the popular Ghanaian figure is not yet over as she is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Paul A. Crotty.
The report concluded that “Romance scams such as Montrage’s harmed her vulnerable, elderly victims not only in the cruel betrayal of trust in the realization that their online romantic connection was fiction but by also callously stealing their money…This Office and our law enforcement partners are relentless in bringing fraudsters who target Americans to justice, no matter where they are”.
