Mona Faiz Montrage Freed After Fraud Conviction
Ghanaian socialite and musician Mona Faiz Montrage, popularly known as Hajia 4Real, is set to be released from the Federal Detention Centre in Philadelphia on May 22, 2025, after serving a one-year-and-one-day sentence. The 32-year-old was convicted for her role in a West African criminal enterprise involved in romance scams, as confirmed by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.
Extradited from the UK to the U.S. in May 2023, Montrage pleaded guilty in February 2024 to conspiracy to receive stolen money. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York stated she defrauded over 40 elderly Americans, receiving over $2 million in fraudulent funds through bank accounts she controlled, under pretenses like fake FBI investigations and gold transport schemes.
Sentenced on June 28, 2024, by Judge J. Paul Oetken, Montrage received three years of supervised release, was ordered to forfeit $216,475, and to pay $1,387,458 in restitution. Her legal team secured a court-approved plan for her return to Ghana, where she intends to rebuild her life and contribute positively, leveraging her social media influence with over 3.4 million Instagram followers.
Some praise her release as a chance for redemption, while others criticize the leniency of her sentence given the scam’s impact on victims. Hopefully, Mona’s return to Ghana marks a new chapter, also, not forgetting, her high-profile conviction is part of an ongoing global effort to combat internet fraud originating from West Africa.