Former Tamale Central MP’s Son Sentenced To 2 Years In US Fraud And Money Laundering Case

The son of former Tamale Central MP, Abdul Inusah, has been slapped with a two-year prison sentence, for fraud and money laundering.

This comes after a United States Court found the convict, Inusah Fuseini’s son, guilty of participating in a Huntington-based operation that defrauded individuals across multiple states.

In addition to the prison term, the court ordered Mr. Inusah to pay $152,000 in restitution and placed him under three years of supervised release once his jail time is completed.

A statement released by the US Department of Justice revealed that Mr. Inusah was part of a conspiracy that targeted victims through deceptive online personas, employing email, text messaging, online dating platforms, and social media websites.

The fraudulent activities extended from at least January 2018 to December 2019, during which the convict and others aimed to deceive victims into believing they were engaged in romantic relationships, friendships, or business partnerships with fabricated personas.

“The victims were convinced to send money for various false and fraudulent reasons, ostensibly to benefit the fictitious personas,” the statement said.

The statement further disclosed the specific monetary amounts associated with Mr. Inusah’s involvement in the scheme. It included $48,000 intended to pay overdue taxes on a non-existent gold inheritance in Ghana, as well as $21,000 wired to Bitsav Supply LLC, a shell company established by Insuah.

In one instance, a false persona named “Grace” persuaded a resident of Washington to wire funds to help “Grace” maintain a cocoa plantation in South Africa and relocate to the United States for marriage with the victim.

Below is the statement from the department.

Federal Jury finds man guilty in Fraud and money laundering scheme

After three days of trial, a federal jury convicted Abdul Inusah, 31, of Ghana, for his role in a Huntington-based scheme that defrauded individuals in multiple states through the use of false online personas.

Evidence at trial revealed that Inusah was part of a conspiracy that targeted victims using false personas via email, text messaging, and online dating and social media websites.

From at least January 2018 to December 2019, the scheme sought to induce victims into believing they were in a romantic relationship, friendship, or business relationship with various false personas. The victims were persuaded to send money for a variety of false and fraudulent reasons for the benefit of the false personas.

One false persona, “Miarama,” was used to induce an Alabama resident into providing $106,000 via wire transfers and cashier’s checks. The amount included $48,000 to pay overdue taxes on a nonexistent gold inheritance in Ghana and $21,000 wired to Bitsav Supply LLC, a shell company set up by Inusah.

Another false persona, “Grace,” persuaded a Washington resident to wire funds so “Grace” could maintain her South African cocoa plantation and move to the United States to marry the victim. Other victims of the false personas included residents of Ohio and Florida.

The jury found Inusah guilty of receipt of stolen money, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and two counts of wire fraud. The wire fraud counts involve a pair of $2,000 Zelle wire transfers to Inusah from the money obtained using the “Miarama” false persona in January 2019.

“It is truly heartbreaking how this conspiracy exploited individuals who were particularly vulnerable, such as following the death of a longtime spouse,” said United States Attorney Will Thompson. “Some of the victims did not recognize themselves as victims and continued to believe these false personas were real and that they were in actual relationships.

“I commend the investigative work of the United States Secret Service, the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation-Office of Inspector General (FDIC-OIG), the West Virginia State Police, and the South Charleston Police Department. I also commend Assistant United States Attorneys Kathleen Robeson and R. Gregory McVey and our trial team for trying this complex fraud case before the jury.”

United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers presided over the jury trial.