US court sets February 2027 trial date for Abu Trica

Frederick Kumi, known as Abu Trica, is currently held in US federal custody and faces a trial date of February 8, 2027. This trial date follows a pre-trial hearing on November 3, 2026, where the court granted extra time for the defense and prosecution to review extensive evidence in the complex fraud case. At that hearing, the court set multiple deadlines leading up to the trial.

Abu Trica can finalize any potential plea deal by December 15, 2026. If he opts for a plea deal, both the defense and prosecution have until that date to inform the court. A final pre-trial conference is scheduled for January 13, 2027, at 11 a.m., with the trial starting on February 8, 2027, at 9 a.m. Abu Trica has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy charges and money laundering conspiracy, with a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

Prosecutors allege that he and his co-conspirators used online dating platforms and AI tools to assume fake identities and defrauded over 80 elderly US citizens of more than $8 million between April 2023 and November 2025. He was arrested in Ghana in December 2025 during a joint operation with Ghana's Cyber Security Authority and was extradited to the US on July 9, 2026.

In a related case, Ghanaian twin brothers Jamal and Kamal Abubakari, and US citizen Amanda Joy Opoku-Boachie, pleaded guilty to running a separate $9 million international romance scam network in October 2026. Abu Trica's potential plea deal could result in a lesser sentence than the 20 years, for example, like Ray Hushpuppi who received 135 months (over 11 years) after pleading guilty in a similar case.