Abdul Inusah, the son of the former MP for Tamale Central Inusah Fuseini
Abdul Inusah, the son of the former MP for Tamale Central Inusah Fuseini, charged in the US for alleged fraud and money laundering has said he is innocent of the charges levelled against him and he will soon be a free man.
Speaking in an interview on Accra-based FM, Asaase Radio, he said publications in the media are half-truth publications which have affected his family and friends.
He added that the matter is still in court and he expected to have some engagement between himself, his attorney and the government of the United States of America.
Narrating what led to this development, he said he first received an indictment which was filed on April 27, 2021 but he received same via text message in June of the same year.
He recounted that following this, he contacted his lawyers who took it up and the case proceeded. He was indicted on two counts – 20,000-dollar wire fraud and receipt of stolen money with regards to the said money.
“I was given a series of plea deals. I refused them because you only accept plea deals if you have committed a crime. Upon realization that they had already apprehended 9 people who were someway somehow linked to me because I had bought a few of them vehicles somewhere 2018, while a student in the same university and they were also students and that was in a different indictment.
“The only reason why I was not involved in that particular indictment was because there was nothing linking me to those people.
“I decided to opt for trial. I was superseded 3 times to where the count now became 8. I have seen 50 years but I was offered a plea deal of 6 months jail time but I still refused until it got to somewhere this month. We went for trial, which lasted for 4 or 5 days till the jury came out with somewhat of a verdict pronouncing me not guilty for 3 to 4 charges of those counts and 4 charges they thought I was guilty of on those other counts.
“From there, obviously the justice department would have come out with a communique talking about what happened in court during the trial. It was those that the Ghanaian media fetched its reports from,” he noted.
He also used the opportunity to encourage his family to continue to have faith as he will soon be a free man.
“My utmost worry right now is not fighting my case or proving my innocence to the Ghanaian public,” Inusah said. “My very utmost problem right now will be my family and friends who have been affected by these half-truth publications, with utmost respect because I don’t want to discredit anybody’s work,” he said.
“But these are half-truths, and people’s lives in Ghana are being affected, especially my family and love ones, and I would like to apologise to them that they should take heart, and keep having faith that their brother and son is innocent and will soon be a free man and we will rejoice and jubilate with the people of Ghana,” an optimistic Inusah said to Asaaseradio.com.
Meanwhile, Former Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, and MP for Tamale Central, Inusah Fuseini has also reacted to this development.
The former MP described the development as terrible, while seeking to explain the details of what led to the incident.
Inusah Fuseini explained that his son’s documents were used by his colleague who had requested same for a transaction but unfortunately it turned out he used it for romance fraud.
“As a father, my son told me that one of his colleague students wanted a car and he has documents that allows him to auction vehicles and it turns out the colleague student was involved in a romance fraud,” the former legislator told Asaase radio com.
Abdul Inusah however explained that he has not been jailed as is being reported by some media houses. He is currently at home and the case is still ongoing.
Backgound
31-year-old Abdul Inusah was arrested for his role in a Huntington-based scheme that defrauded individuals in multiple states through the use of false online personas.
A statement from the United States Department of Justice explained that evidence at trial revealed that “Inusah was part of a conspiracy that targeted victims using false personas via email, text messaging, and online dating and social media websites. From at least January 2018 through at least December 2019, the scheme sought to induce victims into believing they were in a romantic relationship, friendship, or business relationship with various false personas. The victims were persuaded to send money for a variety of false and fraudulent reasons for the benefit of the false personas.”
One instance was when one false persona, “Mariama,” was used to induce an Alabama resident into providing $106,000 via wire transfers and cashier’s checks. The amount included $48,000 to pay overdue taxes on a nonexistent gold inheritance in Ghana and $21,000 wired to Bitsav Supply LLC, a shell company set up by Inusah. Another false persona, “Grace,” persuaded a Washington resident to wire funds so “Grace” could maintain her South African cocoa plantation and move to the United States to marry the victim. Other victims of the false personas included residents of Ohio and Florida.
The jury found Inusah guilty of receipt of stolen money, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and two counts of wire fraud. The wire fraud counts involve a pair of $2,000 Zelle wire transfers to Inusah from the money obtained using the “Miarama” false persona in January 2019.
United States Attorney, Will Thompson, described the activities as heart-breaking as vulnerable individuals were targeted.
The United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers presided over the Jury.
Abdul Inusah has been scheduled to be sentenced on November 21, 2022 and will face a maximum penalty of 50 years in prison.
NYA/WA
