Kofi Boat and Others Indicted in $100M Online Fraud Scheme

A massive international fraud ring based in Ghana has been uncovered by U.S. authorities, with four key players at the center of it all. At the heart of the scheme is Isaac Oduro Boateng, widely known as Kofi Boat, who along with Inusah Ahmed (Pascal), Derrick Van Yeboah (Van), and Patrick Kwame Asare (Borgar), is accused of running a criminal enterprise that defrauded victims—mostly vulnerable individuals and U.S. businesses—out of more than $100 million.

According to the indictment, the group operated from at least 2016 through 2023, orchestrating both romance scams and business email compromises (BEC). These scams involved deceiving elderly people into believing they were in online relationships, then convincing them to send large sums of money. In other cases, the group used spoofed emails that looked like legitimate business communications to trick companies into wiring funds to accounts they controlled.

The scammers didn’t just steal money—they laundered it through an elaborate web. Funds were routed through U.S.-based middlemen, funneled into shell companies posing as legitimate businesses, and eventually transferred back to West Africa. Within the group, there was a hierarchy: those doing the scams were known as “sakawa boys” or “game boys,” while the leaders—like Kofi Boat and Pascal—were referred to as “chairmen.”

To make matters worse, many of the victims unknowingly participated in laundering by receiving money into their accounts and sending it elsewhere, believing they were helping their supposed romantic partners.

All four accused face multiple charges, including wire fraud, money laundering, and receiving stolen money. Each of these charges carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison. The U.S. government is also seeking forfeiture of any assets gained from the illegal operations.

This case is yet another reminder of how online fraud continues to evolve—and how it often has real-world consequences for innocent people across the globe. While Kofi Boat and two others are now in U.S. custody, one defendant, Patrick Asare, remains at large. The legal proceedings are ongoing, and all accused are presumed innocent until proven guilty.