Reports emerging suggest that social media influencer and musician Mona Faiz Montrage, widely recognized as Hajia4Reall, risks being deported from the United States of America after pleading guilty to receiving proceeds from a romance scam.
This information is contained in an alleged court document shared by Gossips24Avenue in a YouTube video, where Hajia4Reall officially admitted to being guilty.
Portions of the reported court document which has Hajia4Reall’s signature, read that “the defendant recognizes that, if the defendant is not a citizen of the United States, the defendant’s guilty plea and conviction make it very likely that the defendant’s removal from the United States is presumptively mandatory and that, at a minimum, the defendant is at risk of being removed or suffering other adverse immigration consequences.”
The document indicates that the defendant, Hajia4Reall has “zero criminal history points, thus in accordance, the defendant’s Criminal History Category is I.
The sentencing range was also provided.
It read; “Based upon the calculations set forth above, the defendant’s stipulated Guidelines range is 37 to 46 months’ imprisonment (the “Stipulated Guidelines Range”). In addition, after determining the defendant’s ability to pay, the Court may impose a fine pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 5E1.2. At Guidelines level 21, the applicable fine range is $15,000 to $150,000″ a portion of the document read.
Montrage has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to receive stolen money, which could result in a maximum sentence of five years in prison under U.S. laws. Hajia4Reall has agreed to forfeit $2,164,758.41 and make restitution in the same amount.
The sentencing will be determined by U.S. District Judge Paul A. Crotty at a later date.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Mona Faiz Montrage knowingly received money stolen from older Americans through romance scams and was arrested abroad and now faces serious consequences for her actions. Romance scams such as Montrage’s harmed her vulnerable, elderly victims not only in the cruel betrayal of trust in the realization that their online romantic connection was fiction, but by also callously stealing their money. This Office and our law enforcement partners are relentless in bringing fraudsters who target Americans to justice, no matter where they are.”
As alleged in the Indictment and statements made in public filings and public court proceedings:
From at least in or about 2013 through in or about 2019, MONTRAGE was a member of a criminal enterprise (the “Enterprise”) based in West Africa that committed a series of frauds against individuals and businesses in the U.S., including romance scams.
Many of the Enterprise’s romance scam victims were vulnerable, older men and women who lived alone. The Enterprise frequently conducted the romance scams by sending the victims emails, text messages, and social media messages that deceived the victims into believing that they were in romantic relationships with a person who was, in fact, a fake identity assumed by members of the Enterprise.
Once members of the Enterprise had successfully convinced victims that they were in a romantic relationship and had gained their trust, they convinced the victims, under false pretenses, to transfer money to bank accounts the victims believed were controlled by their romantic interests, when, in fact, the bank accounts were controlled by members of the Enterprise.
MONTRAGE is a Ghanaian public figure who rose to fame as an influencer through her Instagram profile under the username “Hajia4Reall,” which at one point had approximately 3.4 million Instagram followers and was among the top 10 profiles with the most followers in Ghana.
MONTRAGE received money from several victims of romance frauds who members of the Enterprise tricked into sending money. Among the false pretenses used to induce victims to send money to MONTRAGE were payments to transport gold to the U.S. from overseas payments to resolve a fake FBI investigation, and payments to assist a fake U.S. Army officer in receiving funds from Afghanistan.
In total, MONTRAGE controlled bank accounts that received over $2 million in fraudulent funds from the Enterprise.