A man from Ghana was sentenced to 85 months in prison for being a member of an international criminal organization that stole more than $100 million from victims via romance scams and business email compromises.
Derrick Van Yeboah, a/k/a “Van,” 41, was also sentenced to two years of supervised release and ordered to pay $10,149,429.17 in forfeiture.
On March 5, 2026, Van Yeboah pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud before U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, who imposed the sentence.
“Romance scammers do not simply steal money—they weaponize trust,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “Van Yeboah and his co-conspirators exploited trust, loneliness, and legitimate business relationships to steal more than $100 million. Today’s sentence reflects the seriousness of these calculated frauds and our commitment to pursuing international criminal organizations that target Americans.”
Court documents say that Van Yeboah was a member of a criminal organization primarily based in Ghana that committed romance scams and business email compromises against individuals and businesses located across the United States.
Many of the conspiracy’s victims were vulnerable older men and women who were tricked into believing that they were in online romantic relationships with persons who were, in fact, fake identities assumed by members of the conspiracy. Once members of the conspiracy had gained the trust of their victims, they deceived those victims into sending their money to the enterprise or into helping them launder funds from other victims. The conspirators also committed business email compromises to trick and deceive businesses into wiring funds to the enterprise. In total, the conspiracy stole and laundered more than $100 million from dozens of victims.
After stealing the money, the fraud proceeds were then laundered to West Africa.
Van Yeboah personally perpetrated many of the romance scams by impersonating fake romantic partners in communications with victims. For example, in 2019 and 2020, Van Yeboah assumed fake identities to engage in romance scams with an Ohio woman and a Delaware woman and induced them into transferring approximately $4.2 million to accounts belonging to members of the conspiracy.
Similarly, in 2024, Van Yeboah assumed a fake identity to engage in a romance scam with a North Carolina man and induced him into transferring approximately $123,000 to accounts belonging to members of the conspiracy by claiming that he needed funds for both a parent’s funeral and to recover gold and diamonds from Italy.
Van Yeboah is being held responsible for more than $10 million he stole from victims via his romance scams.
Clayton praised the outstanding work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs worked with the International Cooperation Unit of the Office of the Attorney-General of Ghana to secure Van Yeboah's August 7, 2025, extradition to the United States. Ghana’s Economic and Organized Crime Office, the Ghana Police Service – INTERPOL, Ghana’s Cyber Security Authority, and Ghana’s National Intelligence Bureau all provided significant assistance to ensure Van Yeboah's extradition.
The case is being prosecuted by the Office’s Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kevin Mead and Mitzi Steiner are in charge of the prosecution.
