Derrick Van Yeboah has been sentenced to 85 months in a U.S. federal prison after admitting his role in a Ghana-based fraud syndicate that stole more than $100 million through romance scams and business email compromise.
A Ghanaian man identified by U.S. authorities as a key figure in a multimillion-dollar international fraud network has been sentenced to more than seven years in federal prison after admitting to his role in romance scams and business email compromise schemes that siphoned over $100 million from victims.
Derrick Van Yeboah, 41, also known as “Van”, was handed an 85-month prison sentence on July 28, 2026, by U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian. He pleaded guilty on March 5, 2026, to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said the case highlighted the devastating human and financial impact of online fraud.
“Romance scammers do not simply steal money—they weaponise trust,” Clayton said. “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 organisations that target Americans”.
Court filings described Van Yeboah as a member of a Ghana-based criminal syndicate that relied on two major fraud schemes. One involved creating fake online romantic relationships to manipulate victims into sending money, while the other centered on business email compromise attacks in which fraudsters impersonated company executives to deceive businesses into transferring funds.
Investigators said the network largely preyed on vulnerable elderly men and women who believed they were in genuine online relationships with fictitious personas created by members of the group. The organisation is estimated to have stolen and laundered more than $100 million from dozens of victims, with much of the illicit proceeds funnelled to West Africa.
Prosecutors held Van Yeboah directly responsible for more than $10 million in losses linked to his own fraudulent activities.
Authorities said that in 2019 and 2020, he used fake identities to deceive two women, one from Ohio and another from Delaware, into sending a combined $4.2 million to bank accounts controlled by the conspiracy.
In another scheme carried out in 2024, Van Yeboah allegedly convinced a man in North Carolina to send about $123,000 after falsely claiming he needed financial assistance for a parent’s funeral and to retrieve gold and diamonds from Italy.
Beyond the prison sentence, the court ordered Van Yeboah to serve two years of supervised release upon completing his custodial term. He was also directed to forfeit $10,149,429.17.
Van Yeboah was extradited from Ghana to the United States on August 7, 2025, following a joint operation involving the U.S. Department of Justice and several Ghanaian institutions. Those agencies included the Office of the Attorney-General, the Economic and Organised Crime Office, the Ghana Police Service INTERPOL unit, the Cyber Security Authority, and the National Intelligence Bureau.
The prosecution was handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York through its Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit.
