Ghanaian national sentenced to 7 years in prison for stealing $10M from romance scam victims | CyberScoop<\/title> <meta name=\"description\" content=\"Derrick Van Yeboah impersonated fake romantic partners and directly interacted with victims for more than nine years.\"> <link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/ghanaian-national-sentenced-romance-scam\/\"> <meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\"> <meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\"> <meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ghanaian national sentenced to 7 years in prison for stealing $10M from romance scam victims\"> <meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Derrick Van Yeboah impersonated fake romantic partners and directly interacted with victims for more than nine years.\"> <meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/ghanaian-national-sentenced-romance-scam\/\"> <meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CyberScoop\"> <meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cyberscoop\/\"> <meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-30T14:35:01+00:00\"> <meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-30T14:35:04+00:00\"> <meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ghanaian-national-sentenced-to-7-years-in-prison-for-stealing-10m-from-romance-scam-victims-2.jpg\"> <meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\"> <meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1440\"> <meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\"> <meta name=\"author\" content=\"Matt Kapko\"> <meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\"> <meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@CyberScoopNews\"> <meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@CyberScoopNews\">  <link rel=\"dns-prefetch\" href=\"\/\/securepubads.g.doubleclick.net\">\n<link rel=\"dns-prefetch\" href=\"\/\/use.typekit.net\">\n<link rel=\"alternate\" type=\"application\/rss+xml\" title=\"CyberScoop \u00bb Feed\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/feed\/\">\n<link rel=\"alternate\" type=\"application\/rss+xml\" title=\"CyberScoop \u00bb Comments Feed\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/comments\/feed\/\"> <link rel=\"stylesheet\" id=\"all-css-2\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/wp-includes\/css\/dist\/block-library\/style.min.css?m=1784312972g\" type=\"text\/css\" media=\"all\"> <link rel=\"stylesheet\" id=\"all-css-6\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/wp-content\/mu-plugins\/search\/elasticpress\/dist\/css\/related-posts-block-styles.min.css?m=1785274254g\" type=\"text\/css\" media=\"all\"> <link rel=\"stylesheet\" id=\"all-css-8\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/wp-content\/themes\/scoopnewsgroup\/dist\/css\/frontend.css?m=1782867887g\" type=\"text\/css\" media=\"all\">\n<link rel=\"stylesheet\" id=\"typekit-css\" href=\"https:\/\/use.typekit.net\/itk2qbh.css?ver=9519dd464d894b805a10\" media=\"all\"> <link rel=\"https:\/\/api.w.org\/\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/wp-json\/\"><link rel=\"alternate\" title=\"JSON\" type=\"application\/json\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90030\"><meta name=\"generator\" content=\"WordPress 6.8.6\">\n<link rel=\"shortlink\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/?p=90030\">\n<link rel=\"alternate\" title=\"oEmbed (JSON)\" type=\"application\/json+oembed\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/wp-json\/oembed\/1.0\/embed?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcyberscoop.com%2Fghanaian-national-sentenced-romance-scam%2F\">\n<link rel=\"alternate\" title=\"oEmbed (XML)\" type=\"text\/xml+oembed\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/wp-json\/oembed\/1.0\/embed?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcyberscoop.com%2Fghanaian-national-sentenced-romance-scam%2F&format=xml\">   <link rel=\"icon\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/01\/cropped-cs_favicon-2.png?w=32\" sizes=\"32x32\">\n<link rel=\"icon\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/01\/cropped-cs_favicon-2.png?w=192\" sizes=\"192x192\">\n<link rel=\"apple-touch-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/01\/cropped-cs_favicon-2.png?w=180\">\n<meta name=\"msapplication-TileImage\" content=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/01\/cropped-cs_favicon-2.png?w=270\"> <\/head><body class=\"wp-singular post-template-default single single-post postid-90030 single-format-standard wp-theme-scoopnewsgroup wp-child-theme-cyberscoop\" id=\"readabilityBody\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/ghanaian-national-sentenced-romance-scam\/#main\" class=\"skip-to-content-link visually-hidden-focusable\">Skip to main content<\/a> <\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--top ad--top-desktop\">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p> <main id=\"main\" role=\"main\" tabindex=\"-1\"> <\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--top ad--top-mobile\">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<section id=\"stickybar\" class=\"stickybar stickybar--newsletter js-stickybar\" readability=\"0.82\"> <button class=\"stickybar__close js-stickybar-close\" aria-controls=\"stickybar\"> <svg class=\"icon icon--close\" width=\"21\" height=\"22\" viewBox=\"0 0 21 22\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"m.822.518-.805.805L9.695 11 .017 20.678l.805.805 9.678-9.678 9.677 9.678.806-.805L11.305 11l9.678-9.677-.806-.805-9.677 9.677L.822.518Z\" fill=\"currentColor\" \/><\/svg> <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Close<\/span> <\/button> <\/section>\n<article class=\"single-article content\">\n<div class=\"single-article__container js-single-article-content\">\n<header class=\"single-article__header \" readability=\"25.322222222222\">\n<div class=\"single-article__header-content\" readability=\"34.213399503722\">\n<ul class=\"single-article__eyebrow\">\n<li class=\"single-article__category\"> <a class=\"single-article__category-link\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/ghanaian-national-sentenced-romance-scam\/\"> <span>Cybercrime<\/span> <\/a> <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> Derrick Van Yeboah impersonated fake romantic partners and directly interacted with victims for more than nine years. <\/p>\n<p>  <br \/>\n<audio id=\"audio-player\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-tts-cdn.api.scpnewsgrp.com\/cyberscoop\/90030\/english.openai.mp3\"><\/audio> <\/p>\n<div readability=\"11\">\n<div>\n<p>Listen to this article<\/p>\n<p>  <\/p>\n<p>0:00<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>  <\/p>\n<p> <span id=\"tts-tooltip\">Learn more.<\/span> <span> This feature uses an automated voice, which may result in occasional errors in pronunciation, tone, or sentiment. <\/span> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>  <\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__cover-wrap\">\n<figure class=\"single-article__cover\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ghanaian-national-sentenced-to-7-years-in-prison-for-stealing-10m-from-romance-scam-victims.jpg?resize=640%2C480&ssl=1\" class=\"single-article__cover-image wp-post-image\" alt decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ghanaian-national-sentenced-to-7-years-in-prison-for-stealing-10m-from-romance-scam-victims-2.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ghanaian-national-sentenced-to-7-years-in-prison-for-stealing-10m-from-romance-scam-victims-2.jpg?resize=300,225 300w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ghanaian-national-sentenced-to-7-years-in-prison-for-stealing-10m-from-romance-scam-victims-2.jpg?resize=768,576 768w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ghanaian-national-sentenced-to-7-years-in-prison-for-stealing-10m-from-romance-scam-victims-2.jpg?resize=1024,768 1024w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ghanaian-national-sentenced-to-7-years-in-prison-for-stealing-10m-from-romance-scam-victims-2.jpg?resize=1536,1152 1536w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ghanaian-national-sentenced-to-7-years-in-prison-for-stealing-10m-from-romance-scam-victims-2.jpg?resize=600,450 600w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ghanaian-national-sentenced-to-7-years-in-prison-for-stealing-10m-from-romance-scam-victims-2.jpg?resize=224,168 224w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ghanaian-national-sentenced-to-7-years-in-prison-for-stealing-10m-from-romance-scam-victims-2.jpg?resize=449,337 449w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ghanaian-national-sentenced-to-7-years-in-prison-for-stealing-10m-from-romance-scam-victims-2.jpg?resize=900,675 900w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ghanaian-national-sentenced-to-7-years-in-prison-for-stealing-10m-from-romance-scam-victims-2.jpg?resize=1124,843 1124w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\"><figcaption> Department of Justice building. (Getty Images) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"single-article__content\">\n<div class=\"single-article__content-inner has-drop-cap\"> <html readability=\"35.44743166116\"><body readability=\"72.514185639229\"><\/p>\n<p>A 41-year-old Ghanaian national was sentenced to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/usao-sdny\/pr\/ghanaian-national-sentenced-85-months-prison-stealing-more-10-million-romance-scams\">85 months in prison<\/a> for stealing more than $10 million from mostly older, lonely and vulnerable victims via romance scams, the Justice Department said Tuesday. <\/p>\n<p>Derrick Van Yeboah was a longtime and high-ranking member of a criminal organization primarily based in Ghana linked to more than $100 million stolen from romance scams and business email compromises, officials said. Van Yeboah served as a \u201csakawa boy,\u201d impersonating fake romantic partners and directly interacting with victims online from February 2015 to October 2024.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRomance scammers do not simply steal money \u2014 they weaponize trust,\u201d Jay Clayton, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement. <\/p>\n<p>Van Yeboah was arrested in Ghana in June 2025, acting on a request from the Justice Department, and extradited to the United States two months later. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and agreed to forfeit $10.15 million in fraudulent proceeds as part of a plea agreement in March.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Authorities said they identified at least 20 of Van Yeboah\u2019s victims, noting that some were deceived into sending their money to the criminal organization, creating companies and using those entities to unwittingly launder funds from other victims. <\/p>\n<p>Victims include a woman from Delaware who either sent or laundered $1.9 million, a woman from Ohio who sent or laundered $2.3 million and another woman who sent or laundered about $1 million. Van Yeboah also tricked a North Carolina man to send $123,000, claiming he needed a loan to pay for his mother\u2019s funeral expenses and to remove imaginary gold and diamonds from storage in Italy, according to court records.<\/p>\n<p>Officials said Van Yeboah received a substantial amount of money from his criminal acts. He told pretrial services his assets include a house worth $1.5 million and jewelry worth $515,000. When he was arrested, Ghanaian police found him in possession of two vehicles stolen from the United States and Canada.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVictims lost large portions of their life savings, money they had counted on for retirement. They were emotionally devastated to learn that the personas they had been talking to every day, personas who claimed to be in love with them, were in fact frauds,\u201d Clayton wrote in a pre-sentencing letter to the court. <\/p>\n<p>Van Yeboah\u2019s conduct was cruel, and he fully understood the financial and emotional harm he was causing to his victims, he added. <\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cVan Yeboah\u2019s conduct was far from an aberration. Van Yeboah engaged in the fraud scheme for nine years. It wasn\u2019t isolated conduct; it wasn\u2019t a blip,\u201d Clayton wrote. \u201cIndeed, it appears to be the only real job Van Yeboah has ever had. Day after day, for years, he targeted vulnerable victims, lied to them, and stole from them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><\/body> <\/p>\n<footer class=\"single-article__footer\" readability=\"3.7674418604651\">\n<div class=\"author-card\" readability=\"14\">\n<div class=\"author-card__avatar\">\n<figure class=\"author-card__image-wrap\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"author-card__image\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ghanaian-national-sentenced-to-7-years-in-prison-for-stealing-10m-from-romance-scam-victims-1.jpg?w=640&ssl=1\" alt=\"Matt Kapko\"> <\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><h4 class=\"author-card__name\">Written by Matt Kapko<\/h4>\n<p> Matt Kapko is a reporter at CyberScoop. His beat includes cybercrime, ransomware, software defects and vulnerability (mis)management. The lifelong Californian started his journalism career in 2001 with previous stops at Cybersecurity Dive, CIO, SDxCentral and RCR Wireless News. Matt has a degree in journalism and history from Humboldt State University. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__tags-container\">\n<h4 class=\"single-article__tags-title\">In This Story<\/h4>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/footer>\n<p> <\/html><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__ads js-single-article-sidebar\">\n<div class=\"ad ad--sidebar js-single-article-sidebar-5 ad--rightrail_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ad ad--sidebar js-single-article-sidebar-4 ad--rightrail_2 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ad ad--sidebar js-single-article-sidebar-3 ad--rightrail_3 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"popular-stories popular-stories--single-post\">\n<div class=\"popular-stories__container\">\n<h2 class=\"popular-stories__title\"> More Scoops <\/h2>\n<p>  <\/div>\n<p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <\/p>\n<section class=\"latest-podcasts\">\n<h2 class=\"latest-podcasts__title\"> Latest Podcasts\t<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n<div class=\"top-categories\">\n<div class=\"top-categories__container\">\n<h3 class=\"top-categories__category-title\">Government<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"top-categories__container\">\n<h3 class=\"top-categories__category-title\">Technology<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> <\/main> <\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--bottom \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"interstitial\" class=\"welcome__container\"> <button id=\"close-modal-1\" class=\"welcome__clickable_area\"><\/button> <\/p>\n<div class=\"welcome__ad_wrapper\">\n<p> <button id=\"close-modal-3\" class=\"welcome__continue-button\">Continue to CyberScoop<\/button> <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>   <\/body> <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/ghanaian-national-sentenced-romance-scam\/\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ghanaian national sentenced to 7 years in prison for stealing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[282,78,338,3185,1913,4963,842],"tags":[286,86,341,3203,1916,4966,847],"class_list":["post-8881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cybercrime","category-cybersecurity","category-department-of-justice-doj","category-ghana","category-justice-department","category-romance-scams","category-scam","tag-cybercrime","tag-cybersecurity","tag-department-of-justice-doj","tag-ghana","tag-justice-department","tag-romance-scams","tag-scam"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":"","thumbnail":"","medium":"","medium_large":"","large":"","1536x1536":"","2048x2048":"","chromenews-featured":"","chromenews-large":"","chromenews-medium":""},"author_info":{"display_name":"Cyber Scoop","author_link":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/author\/cyberscoop\/"},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/category\/cybercrime\/\" rel=\"category tag\">cybercrime<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/category\/cybersecurity\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Cybersecurity<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/category\/department-of-justice-doj\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Department of Justice (DOJ)<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/category\/ghana\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Ghana<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/category\/justice-department\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Justice Department<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/category\/romance-scams\/\" rel=\"category tag\">romance scams<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/category\/scam\/\" rel=\"category tag\">scam<\/a>","tag_info":"scam","comment_count":"0","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8881","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8881"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8881\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

{"id":8881,"date":"2026-07-30T09:35:01","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T14:35:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/?p=90030"},"modified":"2026-07-30T09:35:01","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T14:35:01","slug":"ghanaian-national-sentenced-to-7-years-in-prison-for-stealing-10m-from-romance-scam-victims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/2026\/07\/30\/ghanaian-national-sentenced-to-7-years-in-prison-for-stealing-10m-from-romance-scam-victims\/","title":{"rendered":"Ghanaian national sentenced to 7 years in prison for stealing $10M from romance scam victims"},"content":{"rendered":"