| In SDNY
Bank Fraud
Extraditee
From Ghana Had
TB in Valhalla
Now Gets 70
Months
By Matthew
Russell Lee
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
April 2 – A woman from Ghana
pled guilty to receiving
stolen property in The Bronx
before U.S.
District Court
for the
Southern
District of
New York Judge
Denise Cote on
July 3, 2019.
Assana Traore
has a plea
agreement for
a guideline
sentence of
from 15 to 21
months.
It's part of
the wider "US
v. Rufai" case
in which Judge
Cote has given
four year jail
sentences to
men involved
in the romance
scam side of
the wider case
(one defendant
cut off his
ankle bracelet
and fled).
Traore is a
U.S. citizen
and does not,
like the men,
face or flee
deportation.
On
August 28,
2020, still
amid the COVID
pandemic,
Judge Cote
held a
proceeding on
DEBORAH
MENSAH,
extradited
from Ghana for
theft of over
$10 million
through
business email
compromises
and romance
scams that
targeted the
elderly.
Judge
Denise Cote:
I'm going to
put this down
for a two week
trial. What
month should
we look at?
Defense
counsel: How
about 1st week
in May 2021?
Note:
MENSAH, 33, is
charged with
conspiracy to
commit wire
fraud, wire
fraud &
money
laundering, 20
years in
prison
Judge
Cote: I'll
exclude time
under the
Speedy Trial
Act until the
May 3 trial
date. If the
defendant
wishes to use
the time to
try to
negotiate a
pre-trial
disposition,
she can do
that.
Defense
lawyer: I
reserve the
right to make
a bail
application.
She has T.B.
Defense
lawyer: If and
when we make a
bail
application,
should we file
it with you or
the
Magistrate?
Judge Cote:
With me. I'm
around. AUSA,
please follow
up with
Valhalla
[jail] to make
sure there is
medical care
after what I
hope was an
arraignment.
On
January 4,
Mensah's
lawyer wrote
to Judge Cote:
"We represent
Deborah
Mensah... We
write as per
the Court's
order of
December 8,
2020 to advice
your Honor
that the
parties
anticipate a
resolution of
this matter
with a
disposition
that obviates
the need for a
trial."
On
April 2, it
happened:
Mensah
appeared
before Judge
Cote to plead
guilty to
Count 5, and
Inner City
Press again
covered it.
Judge Cote
asked Mensah
about the
specifics of
her crime,
that she told
lies. Judge
Cote accepted
the plea and
set sentencing
for July 1.
And
on July 1,
Mensah was
sentenced to
70 months in
prison for her
participation
in a
conspiracy to
launder
millions of
dollars of
fraud proceeds
from business
email
compromises
and romance
scams that
targeted the
elderly...
The
case is US v.
Mensah,
18-cr-201
(Cote).
***
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