A Ghanaian national has been sentenced to 85 months in a United States federal prison for his role in an international criminal organization that stole more than $100 million from victims through romance scams and business email compromises.
Derrick Van Yeboah, 41, also known as “Van” and a leader of the criminal syndicate, was sentenced on July 28, 2026, by U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian. He had previously pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud on March 5, 2026.
“Romance scammers do not simply steal money they weaponize trust,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton, who announced the sentencing. “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”.
According to court documents, Van Yeboah was a member of a criminal organization primarily based in Ghana that used two primary methods to defraud victims: romance scams, where operatives built false emotional relationships online before requesting money, and business email compromise schemes, in which fraudsters impersonated company executives to trick businesses into wiring funds.
Many of the conspiracy’s victims were vulnerable older men and women who were tricked into believing they were in online romantic relationships with fake identities assumed by members of the conspiracy. The group stole and laundered more than $100 million from dozens of victims, with fraud proceeds laundered to West Africa.
Van Yeboah was personally held responsible for more than $10 million he stole through his own romance scams. For example, in 2019 and 2020, he assumed fake identities to engage in romance scams with an Ohio woman and a Delaware woman, inducing them to transfer approximately $4.2 million to accounts belonging to the conspiracy.
Similarly, in 2024, he claimed to a North Carolina man that he needed funds for a parent’s funeral and to recover gold and diamonds from Italy, inducing him to transfer approximately $123,000.
In addition to the 85-month prison term, Van Yeboah was sentenced to two years of supervised release and ordered to pay $10,149,429.17 in forfeiture.
Van Yeboah was extradited from Ghana to the United States on August 7, 2025, following coordinated efforts between the U.S. Department of Justice and several Ghanaian agencies, including the Office of the Attorney-General, the Economic and Organized Crime Office, the Ghana Police Service–INTERPOL unit, the Cyber Security Authority, and the National Intelligence Bureau. The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York’s Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit.
