Tallahassee couple and Ghanaian man sentenced for participating in a Ghana-based romance scam which victimized the elderly

Date: Nov. 5, 2024

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Tallahassee, FL - Jason R. Coody, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida, announced the sentences of three defendants who were convicted for their participation in a Ghana-based romance scam:

• Sadia Alhassan a citizen of Ghana who resided in Tallahassee, Florida was sentenced to serve 18 months in federal prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release, after previously pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, and one count of operation of an unlicensed money transmitting business.
• Shawn William Smith of Tallahassee, Florida, was sentenced to serve 1 day in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release, to include 150 hours of community service, after previously pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, and one count of operation of an unlicensed money transmitting business.
• Mohammed Saaminu Zuberu, a citizen of Ghana who was naturalized as a dual U.S. citizen and who resided in Aldie, Virginia, was sentenced to serve approximately 5½ months in federal prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release, after previously pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, and one count of operation of an unlicensed money transmitting business.
• "Given our large elder population, Florida experiences far too many instances of fraud against unsuspecting, vulnerable seniors through overtures of affection," said U.S. Attorney Coody. "With the assistance of our dedicated law enforcement partners, we are committed to investigating and vigorously prosecuting those who seek to steal the hard-earned savings of our senior citizens."

Each will also be required to pay $581,261.67 in restitution to their victims.

"Whether you are spearheading the scheme or acting as a "money-mule," there is no tolerance for those who are knowingly involved with defrauding citizens throughout the United States in a romance scam," said Juan A. Vargas, Inspector in Charge, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Miami Division. "U.S. Postal Inspection Service, along with our law enforcement partners, will continue to investigate those who target innocent people, especially our elderly, and use the U.S. Mail to abuse their trust for financial gain."

Court documents reflect between March 2019, and March 2022, unknown individuals in Ghana engaged in a military romance scam in which they used telephone and online platforms to contact (usually) elderly victims in the United States and trick them into believing that they were involved in a romantic relationship with another person. Eventually through continued communications, the victims were duped into sending money to their supposed romantic partner (who they had never actually met in person). Sadia Alhassan, who was in the United States on a student visa, and her husband, Shawn Smith, knowingly served as money launderers (also known as "money mules") for the unknown scammers in Ghana. Smith and Alhassan did not have any direct communications with the scam victims; rather, the victims were instructed by the "romantic partner" to send money via the United States Postal Service ("USPS") or a commercial interstate carrier to an address in Tallahassee which turned out to be used by Smith and Alhassan, or to bank accounts that they controlled.

"Targeting the elderly for financial gain is morally reprehensible," said HSI Tallahassee Assistant Special Agent in Charge Nicholas Ingegno. "Protecting this vulnerable population is not just the responsibility of family members, but also law enforcement agencies like HSI and our partners. We are committed to apprehending those who target our seniors."

Court records also show that Mohammed Zuberu served as an intermediary between Smith and Alhassan and the unknown Ghana scammers. On at least one occasion, Zuberu sent a screenshot of USPS receipt (including the tracking number of a package en route to Smith and Alhassan) to Alhassan via a social media phone application. The receipt was consistent with having been sent from one of the elderly victims to a "romantic partner" during their communications. Once Smith and Alhassan received the package in Tallahassee, Alhassan sent a photo of the received package back to Zuberu to alert the scammers that the fraud money was received. The money and/or money orders contained in such packages were then used, in part, to buy money orders which were deposited into bank accounts of Zuberu and others. Within a few days of being deposited in Zuberu's account, the money was usually withdrawn at ATMs located in Ghana.

"I want to remind everyone to be extremely careful when sending money to someone you barely know," said Ron Loecker, Special Agent in charge of IRS - Criminal Investigation's Tampa Field Office. "These manipulators preyed on the good nature of their elderly victims, plain and simple. We all have a desire to feel close to someone and this group sought to exploit that for their own greed. We will continue to do everything we can to bring the criminals who run these types of scams to justice."

Court records also reflect that the defendants used and operated multiple registered and unregistered business entities to transfer funds on behalf of the public without an appropriate money transmitting businesses license as required by Florida law. Further, the defendants operated such money transmitting businesses knowing that the funds being transported and transmitted were derived from a criminal offense or were intended to be used to promote or support unlawful activity. As a result of their conduct, Smith, Alhassan, Zuberu, and others fraudulently received more than approximately $500,000 to which they were not entitled.

These convictions were the result of a joint investigation by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Florida Highway Patrol. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Justin M. Keen.

IRS-CI is the criminal investigative arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money-laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. IRS-CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a more than a 90 percent federal conviction rate. The agency has 20 field offices located across the U.S. and 12 attaché posts abroad.