United States v. Benjamin Adu Acheampong

Case summary

According to the indictment, Benjamin Adu Acheampong, 37, a dual Ghanaian and American citizen living in Fairfield, Ohio, conspired with others from January 2019 through July 2021 in a romance-fraud scheme, and separately made false statements on a COVID-relief application. The charges are allegations; Acheampong is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. The romance scheme worked through fake online dating profiles. Once a victim believed they were in a relationship with the person pictured, the conspirators would ask for money. They commonly claimed the profile's owner was owed a large inheritance of gold and needed help getting it into the United States, or that they needed cash for a plane ticket or medical bills.¹

The indictment alleges that Acheampong laundered part of the $1 million in scam proceeds through multiple bank accounts, including accounts he opened in the name of ABA Automotive & Export LLC, an Ohio company he created. Among other things, it alleges, he wired money to accounts in Africa and falsely represented that the transfers were for paying workers and family expenses.¹

The indictment also alleges that he made false statements to the SBA in a Paycheck Protection Program loan application, which resulted in the SBA awarding him more than $20,000 in COVID relief to which he was not entitled. A federal grand jury indicted him on seven counts: conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, wire fraud, two counts each of international and concealment money laundering, and making false statements to an agent of the United States.¹

Notes

1. U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Ohio, "Grand jury indicts Butler County man for romance-fraud conspiracy involving more than $1 million in proceeds, separate COVID-relief fraud" (original). ↩₁ ↩₂ ↩₃

Summary written from the documents on this page; every sentence is sourced.