Lawyers of Socialite, Montrage Faiz popularly known as Hajjia4Reall has reacted to her guilty plea on Wednesday, February 21.
The Fast Law Firm based in New York in an Instagram post said their client’s guilty plea does not reflect and define who she is as a person.
“Ms. Montrage’s plea does not define her as a person and is not reflective of the individual she is today. Ms Montrage is thankful for the support of her fans, family and legal team throughout this process,” the law firm said in an Instagram post.
Her lawyers also noted that contrary to reports that she was extradited, Hajia4Reall voluntarily boarded a flight from Heathrow to JFK to face the criminal charges against her.
The law firm added that their client’s has taken responsibility of her bank account being used to receive funds from an illicit conduct which she ended in 2019.
Hajia4Reall pleads guilty to romance scams
On Wednesday, February 21, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced the guilty plea of Mona Faiz Montrage for her role in laundering the proceeds of a series of romance scams.
Montrage pled guilty to conspiracy to receive stolen money before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah L. Cave. This guilty plea carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
Hajia4Reall also agreed to pay forfeiture in the amount of $2,164,758.41 and make restitution in the same amount. She is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Paul A. Crotty.
Background
In May 2023, it was reported that Hajia4Reall has been extradited from the UK to the United States to face criminal charges against her which included conspiracy to fraud and receive proceeds from romance scams.
According to the US Attorney, from at least in or about 2013 through in or about 2019, Montrage was a member of a criminal enterprise (the “Enterprise”) based in West Africa that committed a series of frauds against individuals and businesses in the U.S. including romance scams.
Many of the Enterprise’s romance scam victims were vulnerable, older men and women who lived alone.
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York said the Enterprise frequently conducted the romance scams by sending the victims emails, text messages, and social media messages.
Read more: Hajia4Reall deactivates Instagram account temporarily amidst alleged $2m romance scam
He said the messages deceived the victims into believing that they were in romantic relationships with a person who was, in fact, a fake identity assumed by members of the Enterprise.
Once members of the Enterprise had successfully convinced victims that they were in a romantic relationship and had gained their trust, they convinced the victims, under false pretenses, to transfer money to bank accounts.
The accounts, the victims believed were controlled by their romantic interests, when, in fact, the bank accounts were controlled by members of the Enterprise.
According to court documents, Hajia4Reall received money from several victims of romance frauds who members of the Enterprise tricked into sending money.
Among the false pretenses used to induce victims to send money to Montrage were payments to transport gold to the U.S. from overseas payments to resolve a fake FBI investigation, and payments to assist a fake U.S. Army officer in receiving funds from Afghanistan.
In total, Montrage controlled bank accounts that received over $2 million in fraudulent funds from the Enterprise.
