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Ghana Passport Scam Queen Dishes Out 45 Years
Greenbelt, MD – In a shocking verdict, Charmaine Miesha Brown, 45, of Lusby, MD, was found guilty of passport fraud, wire fraud, and bankruptcy fraud in a five-day trial. The guilty verdict was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Karen L. Brown Cleveland of the U.S. Department of the State’s Diplomatic Security Service, Washington Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Colleen Lawlor of the Social Security Administration – Office of Inspector General, Philadelphia Field Division; and Inspector General Joseph V. Cuffari of the Department of Homeland Security.
Brown’s conviction stems from a complex scheme involving her husband, Andrews Oduro Brown, a Ghanaian national who entered the United States in 2013. Brown, a U.S. citizen, married Oduro in 2014 and conspired to obtain U.S. passports for Oduro’s children, who were non-U.S. citizens, through false statements and fraudulent identity documents. The evidence showed that Brown submitted an application for a passport in the name of her child, but bearing the photograph of Oduro’s child, who was born in Ghana and is not a U.S. citizen.
The scheme continued with Brown and Oduro applying for passports in the names of Oduro’s other children, submitting fraudulent Ghanaian birth certificates in support of the applications. The passports were used to obtain travel into the United States for the children. The evidence also revealed that Brown and Oduro conspired to receive payments from the state of Maryland’s Child Care Scholarship Program to which they were not entitled. Brown falsely reported to the state of Maryland that a friend was watching her children, and Oduro posed as the friend and obtained payments from the state of Maryland between 2016 and 2021.
In addition, Brown and Oduro defrauded creditors and the bankruptcy trustee by filing a fraudulent Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland. Brown filled out the petition documents using the name and partial social security number of a friend, seeking the discharge of thousands of dollars in debts and tax obligations to the state of Maryland that Oduro incurred using the friend’s identity.
The trial evidence established that Brown and Oduro’s scheme was extensive and multifaceted, involving multiple counts of passport fraud, wire fraud, and bankruptcy fraud. The guilty verdict is a significant blow to the Brown-Oduro operation, and the sentence of 45 years in prison is a testament to the severity of the crimes.
Brown’s conviction is a result of the tireless efforts of the U.S. Department of the State’s Diplomatic Security Service, the Social Security Administration – Office of Inspector General, and the Department of Homeland Security. The case serves as a reminder of the importance of identifying and prosecuting individuals who engage in complex and multifaceted schemes to defraud the United States government and its citizens.
The case is a reminder that those who engage in passport fraud, wire fraud, and bankruptcy fraud will be held accountable for their actions. The sentence of 45 years in prison is a significant deterrent to those who would attempt to engage in similar schemes in the future.
Key Facts
- State: Maryland
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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