Year in Retrospect: Persons within Hajia4Real's circle subject to investigation – FIC

In May 2023, the Financial Intelligence Centre(FIC) disclosed that all persons within the social and business circles of Mona Faiz Montrage, popularly known as Hajia4Reall, are now persons of interest.

This news was on the back of Hajia4Reall's extradition to the United States after being slapped with charges of fraud and romance scam.

Read the full details of the story below published in May 2023:

The Financial Intelligence Centre(FIC) has revealed that all persons within the social and business circles of Mona Faiz Montrage, popularly known as Hajia4Reall are now persons of interest.

The socialite is facing charges of fraud in a $2million romance scam case in the United States of America after she was extradited from the United Kingdom.

Speaking on Morning Starr on Starr FM Thursday, the Deputy Manager at the FIC, Shaun Henry Osei said his agency is collaborating with INTERPOL and the FBI to investigate all persons found in Hajia4Reall’s circles.

“Obviously she’s not going to be working alone, she’s going to be working in a network. The evidence that you have access to will actually lead you to be able to find out who her greater network is and obviously if you find her greater network, by instincts you will want to look at those people because then they become persons of interest.

The FIC is also asking the public to report suspicious wealth activities to the relevant authorities because such undertakings are often linked to terrorist activities.

“You can report to the FIC for starters. We receive reports from accountable institutions, from individuals so you can make a report and send it via mail and you can even bring it personally. Some of these young guys we see, I know most have been attributed to fraud but some are into very legitimate business. They are into forex trade and other business… Forex trade, I’m not certain what the law says on it, but what I can say is that when it comes to crypto and other things I think as a country we don’t yet have a definitive position on that per what the Bank of Ghana is saying and usually when there’s space like that people are likely to explore.”

This story was initially published on May 18, 2023. It is being reproduced as part of GhanaWeb's Year-in-Retrospect files as we wrap up the year.