Sapphire Egemasi, regarded as Nigeria’s ‘tech queen’ was arrested together with the 3 Ghanaians
Three Ghanaians – Samuel Kwadwo Osei (popularly known as Tuga), Fred Brobbey Awuah, and Derrick Nii Ashitey – have been indicted by a court in the United States for engaging in identity theft and money laundering.
The Ghanaians were indicted alongside Nigerian computer programmer, Chinemezu Sapphire Egemasi, widely referred to as the “tech queen” of Nigeria.
The four were arrested in April 2025 for orchestrating internet fraud schemes and laundering illicit funds between September 2021 and February 2023.
According to court documents seen by GhanaWeb, the syndicate targeted public agencies across the United States, including the city government of Kentucky.
They deployed phishing campaigns and spoofed websites to steal employee login credentials and rerouted public funds into fraudulent bank accounts.
The documents revealed that the gang stole millions of dollars from the city of Kentucky, with Egemasi playing a key role by designing and registering fake websites that mimicked official US government portals in order to harvest sensitive data.
Due to the severity of the offences, the court ordered the forfeiture of all properties belonging to the accused persons in the US.
“By virtue of the commission of the offences alleged in Counts One and Three of the Indictment, SAMUEL KWADWO OSEI, CHINEMEZU SAPPHIRE EGEMASI, and DERRICK NII ASHITEY shall forfeit to the United States any and all property, real or personal, which constitutes or is derived from proceeds traceable to the violations of 18 U.S.C. § 1349 or 18 U.S.C. § 1028A. Any and all interest that SAMUEL KWADWO OSEI, CHINEMEZU SAPPHIRE EGEMASI, and DERRICK NII ASHITEY have in this property is vested in and forfeited to the United States pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 981(a)(1)(C) and 28 U.S.C. § 2461.
“By virtue of the commission of the offence alleged in Count Two of this Indictment, SAMUEL KWADWO OSEI, DERRICK NII ASHITEY, and FRED BROBBEY AWUAH shall forfeit to the United States, any and all property, real or personal, involved in the violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956 and any property traceable to such property. Any and all interest that SAMUEL KWADWO OSEI, DERRICK NII ASHITEY, and FRED BROBBEY AWUAH have in this property is vested in and forfeited to the United States pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 982(a)(1),” the court document read in part.
Read the court document below:
BAI/AE
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