Shockwaves are reverberating across Yorùbáland and the global Yorùbá diaspora following the sudden death of the Baba Ọba (King’s Father) of the famed Oyotunji African Village in South Carolina, USA. The late Baba Ọba, Lukman Arohunfale, a revered socialite and traditionalist, passed away under circumstances already sparking fierce controversy. His death comes just days after he publicly accused the newly installed Alaafin of Oyo, His Imperial Majesty Oba Akeem Adéyẹmọ Owoade, of allegedly ordering his courtiers to beat him mercilessly during a recent courtesy visit to the Oyo palace in Nigeria. In a widely circulated voice recording, the deceased recounted how what was meant to be a simple homage turned violent. Although the Baba Ọba had reportedly battled ill health in the past year, growing insinuations suggest that the alleged physical assault may have aggravated his condition, ultimately leading to his untimely death. The palace in Oyo recently denied that s...
A Ghanaian man based in the US has been accused of scamming more than 30 women out of $2.1m by posing as a soldier on dating sites.
Rubbin Sarpong, 35, a Ghanaian citizen with US residency was arrested on Wednesday (Sept.4) and charged with conspiracy to commit fraud.
According to a report by New York Post reports, Sarpong would convince his victims to send him money by promising them bars of gold from the Middle East in return.
Him and a team of conspirators, who mostly live in Ghana, allegedly scammed over 30 women from Jan. 2016 through Sept. 2019.
Prosecutors are using social media posts of Sarpong, 35, bragging about his wealth. He was always fond of posting photographs of himself with large amounts of cash, high-end cars, and expensive jewelry.
In total, he allegedly received $823,386 from the total of $2.1 million him and his team received from the victims.
Sarpong and his team reportedly used a “myriad email accounts and Voice Over Internet protocol phone numbers.” Victims wired money directly to Sarpong and his conspirator’s bank accounts, while others would even send him checks through the post.
“Occasionally, victims also mailed personal checks and/or cashier’s checks to the conspirators and also transferred money to the conspirators via money transfer services, such as Western Union and MoneyGram,” Department of Justice officials said. “The funds were not used for the purposes claimed by the conspirators—that is, to transport non-existent gold bars to the United States—but were instead withdrawn in cash, wired to other domestic bank accounts, and wired to other conspirators in Ghana.”
The New York Times reports that one of his victims killed herself after Sarpong failed to show up at the Baltimore airport he promised he would. He told her that he was a United States soldier stationed abroad and would bring her “two trunks with ‘family treasure'” from Syria worth $12 million.
If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
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