A former officer of the the United States Army who is of Ghanaian descent, Sanda G. Frimpong, has been sentenced to 40 months in federal prison for laundering illicit proceeds from an elaborate series of romance scams.

Frimpong, who is 33-years-old, was found guilty on three counts of money laundering on September 14, 2023, and ordered to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in restitution to victims.

According to a report by the United States Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of North Carolina, dated April 18, 2024, Frimpong and other conspirators engaged in the said elaborate scams.

They impersonated romantic love interests, diplomats, customs personnel, military personnel, and other fictitious personas to earn the confidence of their victims.

The US Attorney’s Office added that the scams included promises of romance, sharing of an inheritance or other riches, or other scenarios intended to fraudulently induce the victims to provide money or property to the conspirators.

“Frimpong then laundered hundreds of thousands of dollars in proceeds of these frauds through his various bank accounts across state lines and through his contacts in Ghana. Frimpong was also an active-duty Army servicemember stationed at Fort Bragg during the commission of the offenses up until shortly after his arrest in 2023,” the report disclosed.