A Ghanaian national has been sentenced to 85 months in a United States federal prison for his role in an international fraud syndicate that stole more than $100 million from victims through romance scams and business email compromise schemes.
Derrick Van Yeboah, 41, also known as “Van,” was sentenced on July 28, 2026, by U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian after pleading guilty on March 5, 2026, to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton described the crimes as a calculated exploitation of victims’ trust and emotions.
“Romance scammers do not simply steal money—they weaponise trust,” he said. “Van Yeboah and his co-conspirators exploited trust, loneliness, and legitimate business relationships to steal more than $100 million. Today’s sentence reflects the seriousness of these calculated frauds and our commitment to pursuing international criminal organisations that target Americans.”
According to court documents, Van Yeboah was a senior member of a Ghana-based criminal organisation that operated sophisticated online fraud schemes targeting individuals and businesses.
The syndicate primarily used two methods to defraud victims. In romance scams, members created fake online identities to establish emotional relationships before persuading victims to send money. In business email compromise schemes, the group impersonated company executives and business partners to trick organisations into transferring funds to fraudulent accounts.
Many of the victims were elderly men and women who believed they were involved in genuine online romantic relationships with individuals using false identities. Investigators said the organisation stole and laundered more than $100 million from dozens of victims, with much of the proceeds transferred to West Africa.
Van Yeboah was personally held responsible for more than $10 million in fraud proceeds linked to his own activities.
Court records show that between 2019 and 2020, he used fake identities to defraud two women from Ohio and Delaware, convincing them to transfer approximately $4.2 million into accounts controlled by the criminal network.
In a separate scheme in 2024, prosecutors said Van Yeboah deceived a man in North Carolina by claiming he needed financial assistance for a parent’s funeral and to recover gold and diamonds from Italy. The victim subsequently transferred about $123,000.
In addition to the 85-month prison sentence, the court imposed a two-year term of supervised release and ordered Van Yeboah to forfeit $10,149,429.17.
Van Yeboah was extradited from Ghana to the United States on August 7, 2025, following a joint operation involving the U.S. Department of Justice and several Ghanaian institutions, including the Office of the Attorney-General, the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), the Ghana Police Service’s INTERPOL Unit, the Cyber Security Authority and the National Intelligence Bureau.
The prosecution was handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York through its Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit.
