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A Ghanaian citizen extradited to the United States has confessed to participating in a conspiracy involving romance and inheritance fraud, agreeing to pay approximately $4.4 million in restitution to compensate victims for their financial losses, according to a plea deal.
Joseph Kwadwo Badu Boateng, also known as “Dada Joe Remix,” entered a guilty plea for conspiracy to commit wire fraud last week, as reported by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona on Tuesday, June 30, 2026.
Boateng was apprehended in Ghana on an extradition warrant on May 27, 2025, and was sent to the United States the following month.
He has been in custody since his arrest.
The plea agreement reveals that Boateng and his accomplices orchestrated the fraudulent operation from 2013 until March 2023, primarily targeting elderly individuals in Arizona and across other regions of the United States.
Prosecutors allege that the co-conspirators masqueraded as romantic interests through online dating sites, text messages, and various electronic communications.
They falsely asserted that they had received an “inheritance” consisting of gold and jewels, instructing victims that taxes and other fees had to be settled before the valuables could be released.
Boateng’s sentencing is set for September 8, 2026, before U.S. District Judge Angela M. Martinez.
The case highlights collaboration between American and Ghanaian law enforcement agencies.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office acknowledged the contributions of the FBI Legal Attaché in Accra, Ghana’s Office of the Attorney General and Ministry of Justice, the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), and the INTERPOL unit of the Ghana Police Service in facilitating the extradition, along with assistance from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs.
The FBI’s Phoenix Division conducted the investigation through its Sierra Vista office, while prosecution is being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona in Tucson.
By: Magdalene Agyeiwaa Sarpong