The Department of Homeland Security announced the apprehend of a criminal illegal alien from Ghana living in Massachusetts.
According to the Massachusetts Department of Justice, in March 2023, U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani sentenced Kofi Osei to 54 months in prison and two years of supervised release. Osei was also ordered to repay $4,122,558 in restitution and forfeiture. In September 2022, Osei pleaded guilty to seven counts of producing a false bank statement, six counts of wire fraud, and two counts of money laundering.
This week, Osei was apprehended by ICE Boston.
Between 2016 and 2020, Osei opened at least 77 bank accounts in the names of others, receiving and promptly withdrawing earnings from fraud victims. Romance scams commonly targeted older victims. Osei’s co-conspirators constructed and exploited fictitious online dating accounts to exploit victims’ yearning for friendship, gain their trust, and direct victims to send money based on lies. Osei worked with his co-conspirators to transfer the fraud funds to the bank accounts he opened. Osei then took the fraud proceeds in cash or via cashier’s check, returning a share to his co-conspirators. The money-laundering plan collected more than $8 million in fraud proceeds, with $4 million going directly into Osei-opened and controlled accounts.