New york: A court in the United States has sentenced a Ghanaian national, Derrick Van Yeboah, also known as Van, to over 7 years (85 months) in prison for his role in an international criminal organization that stole more than $100 million from victims through romance scams and business email compromises. Van was a member of the notorious criminal syndicate 'The Enterprise' and was regarded as a leader of the gang, being one of the 'Chairmen' of the group.
According to Ghana Web, Van was sentenced by US District Judge Arun Subramanian on July 28, 2026, before whom he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York stated that the convict and his gang took advantage of people's loneliness and stole over $100 million from them.
''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,'' part of the release read.
The statement indicated that Van was found to have stolen more than $10 million from his victims through romance scams. "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, the Attorney General's Office said.
In addition to the prison term, Van Yeboah, 41, of Ghana, was sentenced to two years of supervised release and ordered to pay $10,149,429.17 in forfeiture. The case underscores the extensive resources and international cooperation involved in bringing him to justice, with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Justice Department's Office of International Affairs, and multiple Ghanaian authorities. The case is being prosecuted by the Office's Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit, with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kevin Mead and Mitzi Steiner leading the prosecution.