Washington
CNN
—
An Ohio man who pretended to be a Ghanaian prince and conned not less than 14 individuals out of greater than $800,000 over a number of years was convicted by a federal jury of fraud on Friday.
Daryl Robert Harrison, who glided by Prince Daryl R. Attipoe and Prophet Daryl R. Attipoe, was convicted of mail and wire fraud, conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, and witness tampering. He faces as much as 20 years in jail when he’s sentenced.
Harrison and his stepfather, who continues to be awaiting trial, claimed they have been ministers with Energy Home of Prayer Ministries, a bunch that financially supported “spiritual providers in varied church amenities and personal residences” in Ohio and Colorado, the Justice Division stated in a press release.
Harrison falsely instructed buyers – lots of whom have been church members – that he was a prince from Ghana and had connections to African mining and trucking corporations, the assertion stated. In line with the DOJ, he instructed buyers they might count on to obtain a return of as much as 33% on their investments in these corporations.
In line with prosecutors, Harrison and his stepfather used the cash for private bills, together with renting a home in Colorado and buying luxurious vehicles.
Federal prosecutors alleged of their 2020 indictment that Harrison and his stepfather sought to “unjustly enrich themselves and PHOP by soliciting monies from buyers utilizing false and fraudulent pretenses, representations and guarantees, and changing these monies for defendants’ private profit and for the good thing about PHOP with out the information or authorization of the buyers.”
After soliciting cash, prosecutors wrote within the indictment, Harrison “failed to offer buyers with curiosity funds, routinely terminated all communications with buyers, ignored particular person investor inquiries, and ignored calls for from buyers looking for the return of funding monies.”
CNN has reached out to Harrison’s lawyer. On Monday, a lawyer for Harrison’s stepfather declined to touch upon the conviction and denied that his consumer was concerned within the rip-off.