Derrick Van Yeboah, Romance Scam, New York 2026

A Ghanaian national has been sentenced to 85 months in prison for his role in an international criminal organization that stole more than $100 million from victims via romance scams and business email compromises.

Derrick Van Yeboah, 41, of Ghana, was sentenced to 85 months in prison for his role in the international criminal organization. He was also sentenced to two years of supervised release and ordered to pay $10,149,429.17 in forfeiture.

Van Yeboah was a member of a criminal organization primarily based in Ghana that committed romance scams and business email compromises against individuals and businesses located across the United States.

Many of the conspiracy’s victims were vulnerable older men and women who were tricked into believing that they were in online romantic relationships with persons who were, in fact, fake identities assumed by members of the conspiracy.

Once members of the conspiracy had gained the trust of their victims, they deceived those victims into sending their money to the enterprise or into helping them launder funds from other victims.

The conspirators also committed business email compromises to trick and deceive businesses into wiring funds to the enterprise. In total, the conspiracy stole and laundered more than $100 million from dozens of victims.

Van Yeboah personally perpetrated many of the romance scams by impersonating fake romantic partners in communications with victims. He induced two women into transferring approximately $4.2 million to accounts belonging to members of the conspiracy in 2019 and 2020. He also induced a North Carolina man into transferring approximately $123,000 to accounts belonging to members of the conspiracy in 2024.

Van Yeboah is being held responsible for more than $10 million he stole from victims via his romance scams.

The case is being prosecuted by the Office’s Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kevin Mead and Mitzi Steiner are in charge of the prosecution.