Hajia4Reall pleads guilty plea to receiving money from romance scams through fraud

The Southern District of New York's United States Attorney, Damian Williams, stated today that Mona Faiz Montrage, also known as Hajia 4Real, had entered a guilty plea for her part in laundering the money from several romance frauds. MONTRAGE admitted to conspiring to get money by theft in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah L. Cave yesterday. 

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams stated in a press release earlier today: "Mona Faiz Montrage was arrested abroad and now faces substantial penalties for her actions after she knowingly took money stolen from older Americans through romantic scams. When old and fragile people fell for romance scams like Montrage's, they were not only cruelly betrayed when they realized their virtual romance was a hoax, but their money was also thieved. No matter where they are, my Office and its law enforcement partners are unrelenting in our efforts to apprehend fraudsters who prey on Americans.

As alleged in the Indictment and statements made in public filings and public court proceedings:

From at least in or about 2013 through in or about 2019, MONTRAGE was a member of a criminal enterprise (the “Enterprise”) based in West Africa that committed a series of frauds against individuals and businesses in the U.S., including romance scams. 

Many of the Enterprise’s romance scam victims were vulnerable, older men and women who lived alone. The Enterprise frequently conducted the romance scams by sending the victims emails, text messages, and social media messages that deceived the victims into believing that they were in romantic relationships with a person who was, in fact, a fake identity assumed by members of the Enterprise.

Once members of the Enterprise had successfully convinced victims that they were in a romantic relationship and had gained their trust, they convinced the victims, under false pretenses, to transfer money to bank accounts the victims believed were controlled by their romantic interests, when, in fact, the bank accounts were controlled by members of the Enterprise.

Hajia4Reall rose to fame as an influencer through her Instagram profile which at one point had approximately 3.4 million Instagram followers and was among the top 10 profiles with the most followers in Ghana.

She received money from several victims of romance frauds who members of the Enterprise tricked into sending money. Among the false pretenses used to induce victims to send money to MONTRAGE were payments to transport gold to the U.S. from overseas payments to resolve a fake FBI investigation, and payments to assist a fake U.S. Army officer in receiving funds from Afghanistan.

In total, MONTRAGE controlled bank accounts that received over $2 million in fraudulent funds from the Enterprise.

Hajia4Reall,31, pled guilty to one count of conspiring to receive stolen money, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. She also agreed to pay forfeiture in the amount of $2,164,758.41 and make restitution in the same amount. MONTRAGE is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Paul A. Crotty.

The maximum potential sentence in this case is prescribed by Congress and sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.