The FBI agents
Three Ghanaian citizens have been detained for their alleged involvement in a $100 million fraud conspiracy combining romance scams and business email compromise (BEC). Among them are Isaac Kofi Oduro Boateng (also known as Kofi Boat), a man known as Agony, and a close colleague of Shatta Wale, a Ghanaian musician.
The arrests, which took place in Accra on June 13, 2025, as part of a joint Interpol-FBI operation, come after they were charged with wire fraud and money laundering in a 2023 US indictment. There is still a fourth suspect on the loose.
Kofi Boateng is charged with masterminding the cybercrime that operated out of Ghana from 2016 to 2023. The network allegedly utilized fake letters and spoof emails to pose as executives and scam victims, including eight people and one business, out of more than $100 million.
According to the FBI’s investigation, the group allegedly engaged in romance scams, focusing on elderly victims in false relationships, investments, or emergencies. In March 2025, Ghana's Ministry of the Interior issued arrest warrants in response to a request from the US Embassy.
The accused have now been extradited to the United States of America after being remanded by an Accra court on June 16, 2025. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) spearheaded the concerted crackdown, which has revealed a global network of people allegedly scamming victims out of millions of dollars in life savings.