Hajia4Reall pleads guilty to receiving fraud proceeds from romance scams

Embattled socialite and social media influencer Mona Faiz Montrage, alias Hajia4Reall, has pleaded guilty to receiving fraud proceeds from romance scams, the United States Department of Justice (DoJ) has reported.

A DoJ statement dated February 21, 2024, read in part: "Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced the guilty plea today of MONA FAIZ MONTRAGE for her role in laundering the proceeds of a series of romance scams.

"MONTRAGE pled guilty today to conspiracy to receive stolen money before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah L. Cave.," the statement added.

What sentence Montrage faces

Montrage pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to receive stolen money - she faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

She also agreed to pay forfeiture of $2,164,758.41 and make restitution in the same amount.

She is set to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Paul A. Crotty at a yet-to-be-determined date; it remains to be seen if she will be given the maximum five-year sentence.

What Attorney for the Southern District of New York said:

Attorney Damian Williams said of the guilty plea: "Mona Faiz Montrage knowingly received money stolen from older Americans through romance scams and was arrested abroad and now faces serious consequences for her actions.

"Romance scams such as Montrage's harmed her vulnerable, elderly victims not only in the cruel betrayal of trust in the realization that their online romantic connection was fiction but by also callously stealing their money.

"This office and our law enforcement partners are relentless in bringing fraudsters who target Americans to justice, no matter where they are," he stressed.