Inusah Fuseini and Abdul
The son of a former Minister of Lands and Natural Resources and former NDC Member of Parliament (MP) for Tamale Central, Inusah Fuseini, has been sentenced to two years in prison by an American court.
Abdul Inusah, 32, was found guilty for his role in a Huntington-based scheme that defrauded people in various states by using phony internet personas.
His two-year prison sentence will be followed by three years of supervised release.
According to a statement issued by the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia, Abdul Inusah was also ordered to pay $128,000 in restitution.
The statement dated Thursday, March 23, 2023, said that the trial was decided by a federal jury after three days in court, and that Abdul Inusah was found guilty for being part of a “conspiracy that targeted victims using false personas via email, text messaging, online dating websites and social media platforms.”
The statement pointed out that between January 2018 and December 2019, the scheme participants sought to induce victims into believing they were in a romantic, friendship, or business relationship with the numerous false personas.
“The victims were persuaded to send money for a variety of false and fraudulent reasons for the benefit of the false personas,” the statement noted.
The statement also outlined the various monetary sums involved in this case, as well as some of the victims’ names.
It again pointed out that Inusah’s involvement was largely through a shell company that was set up in his name and used in the crimes.
“One false persona, ‘Miarama,’ was used to induce an Alabama resident into providing $106,000 via wire transfers and cashier’s checks. The amount included $48,000 to pay overdue taxes on a nonexistent gold inheritance in Ghana and $21,000 wired to Bitsav Supply LLC, a shell company set up by Inusah.
“Another false persona, ‘Grace,’ persuaded a Washington resident to wire funds so ‘Grace’ could maintain her South African cocoa plantation and move to the United States to marry the victim. Other victims of the false personas included residents of Ohio and Florida.”
On August 12, 2022, a federal jury found Inusah guilty of receiving stolen money, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and two counts of wire fraud, according to US Attorney Will Thompson, adding, “Perhaps more than others, Abdul Inusah understood the scope of the criminal conspiracy and how it was exploiting innocent and often vulnerable victims.”
Abdul Inusah is also said to have engaged others in the romance scheme, making efforts to conceal his own involvement in the fraud.
Background
Abdul Inusah broke his silence on August 25, 2022, following news of his alleged involvement in money laundering and wire fraud in the United States of America.
He told Accra-based Asaase Radio that he obtained details about the indictment, which linked him to several indictments, the first of which was filed on April 27, 2021, but he received the same via text message in June of the same year.
He recounted that following this, he contacted his lawyers, who took it up, and the case proceeded. He was indicted on two counts – 20,000-dollar wire fraud and receipt of stolen money with regards to the said money.
“I was given a series of plea deals. I refused them because you only accept plea deals if you have committed a crime,” he stated.
He said after learning that they had already arrested nine people who were somehow connected to him, having bought vehicles for them in 2018, he agreed.
By Ernest Kofi Adu