Mona Faiz Montrage, known as Hajia4Real, has been extradited from the United Kingdom to the United States on suspicion of defrauding over $2 million.
Hajia4real is accused of duping elderly, single American men and women in a horrific lonely hearts scam, according to federal authorities on Monday, May 15, 2023.
The social media influencer made an appearance in Manhattan federal court on Monday, according to the New York Post.
She pleaded not guilty during the judicial proceedings. She will be released in the coming days after posting a $500,000 bond.
She will be compelled to wear an ankle monitor with GPS monitoring as part of the terms of her release.
Federal investigators claim that Mona was part of a network of con artists from Ghana and Nigeria. She rose to prominence through her enormously famous Instagram profile Hajia4Reall, which at its peak had 3.4 million followers.
In order to provide the impression that they had romantic relationships with their victims through emails, texts, and social media conversations, these people used misleading tactics and assumed fictitious identities.
Manhattan US Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement “As alleged, Mona Faiz Montrage was a member of a criminal conspiracy that specifically targeted older Americans through romance scams,” “These scams can be both financially and emotionally devastating for vulnerable victims.”
He added, “Thanks to the efforts of our law enforcement partners, Montrage was arrested abroad and has been brought to the United States to face justice.”
According to court documents, in one particular instance, Hajia4Real allegedly tricked a victim into wiring her an astounding $89,000 over 82 wire transfers under the guise of providing financial support for her father’s farm in Ghana.
The documents further claim that in an effort to confirm the victim’s bogus marital status, Hajia went the scam a step further by mailing them a tribal marriage certificate.
Following a string of phone calls in which the fashionista and serial entrepreneur used her real name, this sophisticated ruse came to fruition.
Prosecutors further assert that Mother of One also got money from a number of additional victims who were duped by the schemes carried out by her network of fraudsters.
Montrage amassed an estimated $2 million in total, which was then placed into a number of different bank accounts she had, including one she used to conceal her identity as the bogus apparel company 4Reall Creations.
The indictment claims that the stolen money was eventually transferred to additional participants in the criminal business by way of laundering.
Hajia4Real was arrested in the United Kingdom and her initial sentencing was debunked. She was then extradited to the United States to answer charges such as wire fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy. If found guilty, she could face up to 20 years in prison.
Read Also: False reports of Mona 4Reall’s conviction in the United States – Management
