Sarpong was arrested in New Jersey on Wednesday, September 4, 2019, accused of duping at least 30 people with two known conspirators in Ghana, and another one, an American citizen, also in New Jersey.

The criminal ring defrauded unsuspecting victims in New Jersey and elsewhere, and then laundered the proceeds through various bank accounts in New Jersey and elsewhere to avoid detection, and distribute proceeds from the scheme to co-conspirators in Ghana. 

According to a criminal complaint filed in a New Jersey District Court, Sarpong's co-conspirators committed fraudulent schemes by setting up dating profiles on various dating websites using fictitious or stolen identities posing as U.S. military personnel who were stationed overseas.

"They contacted victims through the dating websites and then pretended to strike up a romantic relationship with them, wooing them with words of love. 

"As part of their scheme, the co-conspirators also created numerous email accounts and Voice over Internet Protocol (hereafter "VoIP") phone numbers, which they used to communicate with victims. 

"After establishing virtual romantic relationships with victims on the online dating platforms and via email, the co-conspirators asked for money from victims, often for the purported purpose of paying to ship gold bars to the United States. 

"Although the stories varied, most often the co-conspirators claimed to be members of the United States military stationed in Syria who received, recovered, or were awarded gold bars. The co-conspirators told many victims that their money would be returned once the gold bars were received in the United States," the complaint read.

Ghanaian-born Sarpong, a legal permanent resident in the U.S., was one of several recipients in the U.S who received funds from victims.

He was found to have directly received $823,386 from 27 victims.

The accused opened numerous bank accounts in his own name, a business name, and in the names of others, including his father's.

He was also found to have transferred a total sum of $454,159 received from victims to several co-conspirators in Ghana.

Sarpong bragged about the money he was making by posting photographs of himself posing with large amounts of cash, as well as photographs of luxury vehicles and expensive designer clothing on his social media accounts. 

Sarpong's arrest comes just two weeks after dozens of Nigerians were indicted in the U.S. for committing similar fraudulent schemes.