NEW YORK — In a significant development for cybercrime prosecution, a 40-year-old Ghanaian citizen, Derrick Van Yeboah, has entered a guilty plea for his central role in a sophisticated transnational criminal enterprise. The organization orchestrated elaborate romance scams and business email compromise (BEC) schemes, defrauding victims of over $100 million. The plea was formally accepted on Thursday by U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian on the charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, characterized the operation as a ‘massive criminal scheme’ that deliberately preyed upon elderly individuals seeking companionship through digital platforms. Van Yeboah’s specific modus operandi involved crafting false online personas to impersonate romantic partners, building trust with victims before manipulating them into transferring substantial sums of money directly to the criminal network or assisting in laundering proceeds from other scams.
The criminal methodology extended beyond romance scams to include BEC attacks, where the conspirators deceived corporate entities into wiring funds to accounts they controlled. Following the successful acquisition of funds, a complex money laundering operation was executed to funnel the illicit profits back to West Africa.
Prosecutors have directly attributed over $10 million in stolen assets to Van Yeboah’s personal actions. As part of his plea agreement, he has consented to both restitution and forfeiture, each set at the precise amount of $10,149,429.17. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for June 3, 2026, where he confronts a potential maximum prison term of two decades.
This case has prompted a stark warning from law enforcement officials. Attorney Clayton urged the public, particularly users of dating websites, to exercise extreme vigilance and skepticism online, advising that individuals should never provide money to someone they have only met virtually and to remember that offers that ‘seem too good to be true, probably are.’