Two Ghanaian Americans allegedly involved in $7M global fraud scheme

Four suspects including two Ghanaian Americans have been charged in connection with a multi-million-dollar fraud scheme where businesses in Florida and outside the United States fell victim to their alleged business compromise email scams.

Per Local 10 News, 31-year-old Kelvin Nkwantabisa of Atlanta was on May 22 arrested by the U.S. Marshals in Broward County. Nkwantabisa, who goes by the monikers “Kevin Brown” and “KO”, has been slapped with six federal charges including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

The other Ghanaian American, identified as Justice Amoh, is said to be a Bronx resident. Amoh, who goes by the moniker “Samuel Andrews”, was arrested in New York and also faces multiple charges. The two other suspects were identified as John Jouissance and Leshea Moore. Other unnamed co-conspirators were also highlighted in the federal indictment.

Authorities said the business email accounts of the victims were compromised by the co-conspirators “for the purpose of monitoring and intercepting emails, specifically those discussing wire transfer payments.”

Prosecutors said the co-conspirators acted as legitimate business partners and sent emails “containing false and fraudulent requests for payment and wire instructions to victims.” The emails in question tricked the victims into wiring funds into bank accounts that the group managed, per authorities.

The businesses that fell victim to the fraudulent scheme included a corporation in Coral Springs, Florida, a company in Suffolk, England, and an investor in Auckland, New Zealand, Local 10 News reported.

Authorities said the bank accounts being controlled by the co-conspirators and the four other suspects received over $7 million from their victims. Authorities also said the four suspects and their co-conspirators created “shell companies and bank accounts in the names of those shell companies for the purpose of receiving stolen victim funds.”

Their fraudulent schemes are said to have taken place between August 2022 and March 2024. Business email compromise (BEC), which is also known as email account compromise (EAC) is “one of the most financially damaging online crimes,” per the FBI.

“In a BEC scam, criminals send an email message that appears to come from a known source making a legitimate request,” the FBI states.