If prominent Ghanaian socialite and artist Mona Faiz Montrage, also known as Hajia4Reall, is found guilty of fraud in the $2 million romance scam case that is presently being investigated in the United States, it seems like she may not be the only one to suffer the consequences.
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Hajia4Reall, who was detained in the UK and extradited to the US on May 12, 2023, has entered a not-guilty plea in a Manhattan federal court. She is accused of six offenses.
Everybody in the suspect’s social and professional network is now a person of interest in the inquiry, according to Ghana’s Financial Intelligence Centre (IFC), which is working on the case alongside INTERPOL and the FBI.
In Ghana, Hajia4Real is renowned for having several connections in both the entertainment and business worlds and serving as an ambassador for a number of corporate businesses.
Shaun Henry Osei, the IFC’s deputy manager, revealed this information in an interview with Accra-based Starr FM.
“Obviously, she’s not going to be working alone, she’s going to be working in a network. The evidence that you have access to will actually lead you to be able to find out who her greater network is and obviously, if you find her greater network, by instinct you will want to look at those people because then they become persons of interest.
The FIC is Ghana’s national centre for the receipt and analysis of suspicious transaction reports and other information relevant to establish offences of money laundering or terrorist financing and proliferation financing (ML/TF&P) and disseminating actionable intelligence to competent authorities.
The centre is appealing to the public to volunteer relevant information on possible financial crimes for them to take the necessary actions.
“You can report to the FIC for starters. We receive reports from accountable institutions, from individuals so you can make a report and send it via mail and you can even bring it personally. Some of these young guys we see, I know most have been attributed to fraud but some are into very legitimate business. They are into forex trade and other business… Forex trade, I’m not certain what the law says on it, but what I can say is that when it comes to crypto and other things I think as a country we don’t yet have a definitive position on that per what the Bank of Ghana is saying and usually when there’s space like that people are likely to explore.”
