At least four people have been arrested in Cote d'Ivoire for their alleged roles in a global sextortion and money laundering scam, which forced a 17-year-old boy to die by suicide in Northern California in 2022.
Ivorian police detained Alfred Kassi, Moussa Diaby, Oumarou Ouedraogo, and Oumar Cisse on criminal charges of running a sextortion scheme, which involved coercing people into sharing obscene photos online by threatening them.
The authorities claimed the four men also targeted thousands of victims worldwide, including children from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, and Italy, and "sextorted" online.
Ryan Last, a 17-year-old San Jose high school senior, was one of the casualties.
According to officials, the youngster died by suicide within hours of being threatened by the defendants, the US Department of Justice announced.
Mr Last, who intended to enrol at Washington State University, was sextorted online by a person posing as a woman in her 20s. The teen, previously, paid $150 to stop them from leaking his private photos.
The evidence eventually led authorities to identify Kassi, an Ivorian citizen residing in Cote d'Ivoire, as the person allegedly carrying out the sextortion.
The Justice Department claimed that when Kassi was arrested on April 29, he had the messages he sent to Mr Last requesting payment in return for preserving his private photos.
Authorities claimed Ouedraogo assisted Kassi in transferring the money he received from the teenager. The investigation involved the US and Ivorian law enforcement and identified several other suspected money laundering accomplices.
According to the Justice Department, Ouedraogo was taken into custody by Ivorian police on April 25.
Diaby and Cisse reportedly admitted their involvement in Kassi's alleged sextortion ring and their personal sextortion offences.
According to the Justice Department, the four men will face prosecution in their home country under Ivorian cybercrime laws because the Ivorian government does not extradite its citizens.
Jonathan Kassi, a US-based accomplice who is unrelated to Alfred Kassi, was also found guilty by a California State Court in another case in 2023 and handed an 18-month prison sentence.
Last's mother, Pauline Stuart, commented on the recent arrests, saying, "We're feeling grateful that [law enforcement officials] didn't give up and they continued to work," per the Los Angeles Times.
The fraudster allegedly sent Last an explicit photo and demanded one in return, CNN reported. He then threatened to expose the picture to Mr Last's friends and family and demanded $5,000.
After Last stated that he didn't have the money, they reduced it to $150.
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