Ghanaian socialite Frederick Kumi, known widely as Abu Trica, has reportedly been extradited to the United States, according to Asaase News.
The report came hours after his lawyer, Oliver Barker-Vormawor, said he had been denied access to his client. Barker-Vormawor said Kumi was taken to the Police Hospital in Accra before he reportedly boarded a Delta Airlines flight out of the country.
Kumi is wanted in the United States over an alleged romance scam that prosecutors put at about $8 million, with elderly Americans among the targets. He faces charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering.
On Wednesday, July 8, Barker-Vormawor said on X that he had learnt from sources at the Police Hospital that his client had been rushed there. He said his legal team had not been allowed to see or speak with Kumi for more than a week, despite writing formally to request access.
“It has been over a week; we haven’t been allowed access to Abu Trica as lawyers, and our request to meet him has not been granted,” he wrote.
The lawyer said the team did not know where Kumi was being held. He added that Interpol, which first had custody of him, had told them it was no longer holding him.
Barker-Vormawor said he would file a habeas corpus application to compel the state to produce his client before a court if the denial of access continued. He also criticised how the case had been handled. “Let’s keep treating our citizens as animals to please the FBI. Today, it’s a ‘fraud boy’. Tomorrow it will be a politician,” he wrote.
The reported extradition follows an Accra High Court ruling on July 2 that cleared the way for Kumi’s transfer to the United States. The court dismissed an application by his lawyers challenging an earlier Gbese District Court decision that had granted the Attorney-General’s extradition request. Security officers rearrested him after the ruling.
An application by the defence to stay the execution of the extradition order had been adjourned to Thursday, July 9. Barker-Vormawor had also said his team intended to take the matter to the Supreme Court.
Kumi was arrested on December 11, 2025, during a joint operation by Ghanaian security agencies and the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation. He was later granted bail of GH¢30 million with two sureties, though earlier bail attempts had failed.
In June, the US Department of Justice said its investigation covered at least five Ghanaians accused of defrauding more than 130 victims across the United States of over $15 million through romance scams. The Department said the suspects targeted older Americans on dating websites and social media, using artificial intelligence tools to pose as women.
It said assets seized in Ghana were worth over $3 million and included a Lamborghini, a Tesla Cybertruck, a Mercedes-Benz and a BMW.
Kumi’s legal team has filed a separate human rights suit alleging that officers from the Narcotics Control Commission, the Economic and Organised Crime Office, the Attorney-General’s Department and the FBI subjected him to torture and degrading treatment during his arrest.
As of the time of the report, the Ghana Police Service and the Attorney-General’s Department had not publicly responded to Barker-Vormawor’s claims about his client’s whereabouts or the reported extradition.
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