Researched by Alfa Shaban
Transnational cybercrimes involving the manipulation of information systems to defraud unsuspecting victims have made the headlines in recent years with announcements by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) of either an arrest/extradition, indictment, or conviction of a Ghanaian (s) involved.
The romance scam trend over the last few years has seen US Attorney General’s offices from Ohio to Massachusetts, New York to West Virginia, taking action to bring Ghanaian perpetrators to book over crimes committed using predominantly fake online identities and fraud.
Aside from the recent case involving Abu Trica, real name Frederick Kumi, who is charged with US$8 million romance scam, GhanaFact has traced a trajectory since 2019, where the DOJ has reported some prosecutorial progress involving Ghanaians each year.
Read DOJ prosecutor’s action against Ghanaian romance scammers: 2020, 2021, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025.
While all the cases have the romance scam denominator, GhanaFact observed that the case of Abu Trica presented the first time Artificial Intelligence was used as a vehicle in addition to other common modes of operation.
What was the role of AI in the Abu Trica case?
A relevant part of the December 11, 2025 DOJ announcement of Abu Trica’s arrest stated: “According to the indictment, perpetrators of this romance scam used Artificial Intelligence software to assume false identities and form close personal relationships with victims. They gained victims’ trust to obtain money and valuables, often targeting individuals through social media and online dating platforms under false pretenses.”
It continued: “Victims were often elderly and engaged in romantic but physically distant relationships with perpetrators. The perpetrators built trust through frequent, intimate conversations by phone, email, and messaging platforms. They then requested money or valuables under false pretenses, such as urgent medical needs, travel expenses, or investment opportunities. Relying on these misrepresentations, victims were persuaded to send funds or valuables, which were then directed to co-conspirators posing as third parties.”
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The charges Abu Trica faces
Frederick Kumi has been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering conspiracy, and a forfeiture specification, and faces up to 20 years in prison, the DOJ statement said.
“An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it is the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt,” the statement added.
- If convicted, a defendant’s sentence will be determined by the Court after a review of factors unique to this case,
- Some factors such as a defendant’s prior criminal record, if any, his role in the offense, and the characteristics of the violation.
- In all cases, the sentences will not exceed the statutory maximum (in this case 20 years), and in most cases, it will be less than the maximum.
The information disorder risk AI poses
According to Ghana’s National AI strategy document: “the opportunities of AI are connected with substantial ethical and societal risks, including bias, discrimination and lack of transparency & explainability in algorithmic outcomes, widening inequality gaps, cybersecurity, privacy and safety concerns, and gaps in inclusion and data governance.”
AI’s role in information disorder is one that has been widely cited, given the realistic text, audio, and video (‘deep fakes’) and personalised disinformation campaigns that AI can be used to pursue with the view to manipulate, persuade, and deceive people.
Which institutions were involved in the arrest of Abu Trica?
The arrest was a joint operation by multiple state security agencies along with their US counterparts. On the Ghana side, the following institutions were involved.
- Attorney General’s Office,
- EOCO – Economic Organised Crime Office,
- GPS – Ghana Police Service,
- Cyber Security Authority (CSA),
- NACOC – Narcotics Control Commission and
- NIB – National Intelligence Bureau
“The investigation preceding the indictment was conducted by the FBI Cleveland Division and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian M. McDonough for the Northern District of Ohio,” the DOJ said in their statement.
US agencies that played a role were:
- U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s Sensitive Investigation Unit,
- U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations,
- U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs, and
- FBI Legal Attaché Office in Accra.
Where next from here?
In EOCO’s statement on December 12, 2025, they stated in the penultimate paragraph: “Abu Trica will subsequently be extradited to the United States of America to face criminal charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering conspiracy, and a forfeiture specification, and faces up to 20 years in prison.”
Under Ghana’s laws, cyber crimes and cyber offenses are among the list of extradition crimes. Now that Kumi is a person of interest, the US government will have to trigger extradition processes.
Section 7 (1) of the law states: “(1) A requisition for the surrender of a fugitive criminal of any country, who is in or suspected of being in Ghana, shall be made to the Minister by a diplomatic representative or consular officer of that country. The Minister may by order signify to a District Magistrate that a requisition has been made, and require him to issue his warrant for the apprehension of the fugitive criminal.”
The Magistrate, if satisfied with the Minister’s request, will proceed to issue the removal order/extradition request. In this case, then will the accused Abu Trica be handed over to US authorities and flown to go and face the charges proffered against him.
