A Nigerian Yemisi Opaso and Ghanaian Former Fort Bragga Soldier Yebiah Asane Charged for Marriage Fraud In United States

A former Fort Bragg soldier and a current sergeant are among 11 people charged in a marriage fraud ring, officials with the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced this week.

 

A federal indictment alleges that 37-year-old Ebenezer Yeboah Asane, the former soldier, planned and organized the sham marriages of foreign nationals to soldiers at Fort Bragg, Robert J. Higdon Jr., the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, said in a news release.

 

The charges include 29 counts of marriage fraud, transporting and harboring aliens, visa fraud, obstruction, unlawful disposition of U.S. property, false statements in immigration matters, and conspiracy to commit marriage fraud, the news release said.

 

The purpose of the conspiracy was for the foreign-born nationals to evade U.S. immigration laws and obtain lawful permanent resident status and for the soldiers to receive a basic allowance for housing to live off post, officials said.

 

Samuel Manu Agyapong, 33, a sergeant at Fort Bragg, has also been charged with obstructing an official proceeding by attempting to destroy evidence and influencing the testimony of a witness, the release said.

Others charged include:

    Christopher Matthew Urquia, 23, of Fort Bragg.

    Kevyn Jakob Ward, 22, of Fayetteville.

    William Steven Ballard, 23, of Fayetteville.

    James Earnest Ekow Arthur, 32, of El Paso, Texas.

    Effua Agyare-Darko, 43, of Ardsley, New York.

    Ernest Atta Gyasi, 43, of Bronx, New York.

    Solace Kwakye, 30, of Bronx, New York.

    Yemisi Mary Opaso, 27, of Hanover, Maryland.

    Barbara Oppong, 41, of Bronx, New York.

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