Pay up, or we release the images: Four charged with international sextortion and money-laundering scheme

Four men residing in Delaware have been charged with an international sextortion and money-laundering scheme, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

The sextortion plot targeted thousands of victims throughout the U.S., Canada and United Kingdom. The four accused were arrested or self-surrendered between Aug. 20, and Sept. 5.

According to an unsealed indictment, Sidi Diakite, 30; Almamy Diaby, 22; Abdul Aziz Sangare, 26; and Abdoul Aziz Traore, 31; allegedly posed online as young females, initiating conversations with young men – some of who were minors – and offered to provide or did provide, sexual photographs, video recordings, webcam, or live cam sessions to their online victims.

During these sessions with their victims, the con artists would record their victims as they exposed their genitals and engaged in sexual activity. They allegedly then used these images to extort money from the victims.

“The conspirators thereafter sent the victims copies of the victims’ fraudulently obtained sexual images and threatened to distribute the victims’ sexual images to the victims’ friends, family members, significant others, employers, and co-workers, and to publish the victims’ sexual images widely online, unless the victims transferred funds to designated recipients,” according to the DOJ.

The four conspirators allegedly engaged in cyberstalking, interstate threats, extortion, money laundering, and wire fraud – successfully extorting approximately $1.9 million from victims through the use of CashApp and Apple Pay.

The indictment further alleges the four men operated infrastructure to transfer the extorted funds outside of North America to other conspirators located as far as the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, which is on the Ivory Coast of Africa.

In April, two women were also arrested for being part of the extortion scheme, with crimes going back as far as May 2020. Hadja Kone, 28, was arrested in Wilmington, Delaware, while Siaka Ouattara, 22, was arrested by Côte d’Ivoire authorities.

If convicted, the conspirators are facing a potential maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for each conspiracy count, a maximum sentence of 20 years for each money laundering count, and 20 years in prison for each wire fraud count.