Memphis, TN - A former Memphis resident, Ocho Edi Monso, 59, charged in a fraud conspiracy was
recently arrested in France and extradited to Memphis. In September 2016, Monso was charged in a
three-count indictment. United States Attorney Kevin G. Ritz announced the charges and extradition
today.
According to the indictment, between July 2013 and January 2014, Monso conspired with Dasse Romain
Yobo and other persons to defraud Regions Bank and other financial institutions. The indictment
alleges the conspiracy was carried out in some instances by obtaining customer account information
and causing fraudulent transfers to be made from customer accounts to accounts controlled by the
conspirators. In other instances, the indictment alleges that the conspirators carried out the
scheme by depositing altered or counterfeit checks to accounts they opened at financial
institutions and then withdrawing or transferring funds from the account of deposit to accounts
they controlled at other financial institutions.
In December 2013, Monso provided co-conspirator Yobo with fraudulent identification to open an
account at Regions Bank under the name KEM Construction. On Dec. 30, 2013, the indictment
alleges that a check payable in the amount of $130,949.96 with an altered payee name was deposited
to the account. On January 9, 2014, the conspirators requested that $77,023.83 be wire-transferred
from the KEM Construction account to an account styled "Peniel Energy" in Lawrenceville, GA. Monso
was also charged in two other counts with possession of 15 or more counterfeit and unauthorized
access devices and device-making equipment with intent to defraud.
Monso was arrested in France in early December 2021, where he had been awaiting extradition. Monso
made his initial appearance in the Western District of Tennessee on Jan. 17, 2023, before United
States Magistrate Judge Annie T. Christoff, who ordered him temporarily detained pending a
detention hearing currently set for 10:00 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 20, 2023.
Monso faces a maximum sentence of 30 years’ imprisonment, $1,000,000 fine and five
years’ supervised release on the conspiracy charge and ten years imprisonment, $250,000 fine and three years’ supervised release on the access device fraud charge and 15 years’
imprisonment, $250,000 fine, and three years’ supervised release for possession of access device
making equipment. Each charge also carries a $100.00 mandatory assessment.
The case was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service and the United States
Secret Service. The United States Department of Justice Office of International Affairs assisted in
the extradition proceedings and the U.S. Marshals Service carried out the extradition of Monso from
France.
An indictment is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
United States Attorney Kevin Ritz thanked Assistant United States Attorney Carroll Andre’, who
prosecuted this case, as well as the law enforcement partners who investigated the case, including
the U.S. Marshals who carried out the extradition.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
