US-based Ghanaian jailed five years for laundering proceeds of romance scam

A US court has sentenced a Ghanaian with US dual citizenship to 5 years to prison for operating an illegal money-transmitting business, that was sometimes used to launder proceeds of romance fraud. 

Kenneth Anim, pleaded guilty on April 27, according to authorities there, and admitted to "operating the unlicensed money transmitting business to launder funds from wire fraud schemes from 2014 to 2019."

"Anim ran the unlicensed money-transmitting business by using shell companies that existed only on paper.

As part of the plea, he acknowledged opening and maintaining bank accounts to collect proceeds from internet and romance fraud schemes to send the money to himself, co-conspirators and overseas," a Justice Department statement further noted. 

In addition to the prison sentence, Anim has been ordered to pay $2.2 million in restitution. 

“In handing down the sentence, the court noted the length of the scheme and that while Anim may not have known who the victims were specifically, they were in fact vulnerable members of society.”