An American court has sentenced a Ghanaian national to prison for internet fraud and money laundering at Knoxville in Tennessee.
The suspect is 30-year-old Adam Khadijah from Bole in the Savanna Region.
Khadijah was sentenced to 30 months in prison.
She, together with her accomplice, Wigbert Bandie who is already in jail, were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, two counts of wire fraud, two counts of mail fraud, and money laundering.
According to court documents, from June 2019 to December 2019, the convicts defrauded victims through romance scams and obtained money under false pretences.
Bandie and another suspect who is currently on the run, Mubarak Braimah, targeted unsuspecting victims through social media.
They impersonated individuals overseas seeking relationships.
They convinced victims to send money for shipping fees while promising profits from non-existent gold shipments.
Khadijah and Bandie then received the funds from the victims.
In one case, Bandie posed as an heiress to gold bars in Singapore, defrauded Richard Coleman, a Knoxville resident, of $73,550.
Khadijah was arrested in 2022, after which a Grand Jury for the Eastern District of Tennessee indicted her, along with her accomplices.
While out on bail, Khadijah Adam attempted to flee the US but was apprehended in December 2023.
Meanwhile, as part of a plea deal following his arrest, Bandie pleaded guilty to an indictment charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
The court added that after his incarceration, he will be on a three-year supervised release.
He was also ordered to repay $2.18 million in restitution to the 11 victims he defrauded.
The court has also issued an FBI warrant for the arrest of Mubarak Braimah, who is believed to be hiding in Jinasonaly, a neighbourhood in Tamale.