Ghanaian influencer charged in US over romance scams

Montrage, who boasts more than four million followers on her Instagram page Hajia4Reall, even pretended to marry one of her victims to further her fraud, the Justice Department alleges. — Image by katemangostar on Freepik

NEW YORK: A Ghanaian social media influencer has pleaded not guilty in the United States to deceiving older, single Americans out of US$2mil (RM9mil) through lonely hearts scams.

Mona Faiz Montrage, 30, was part of a group of fraudsters in West Africa who tricked men and women into thinking they were in relationships with them, according to federal prosecutors.