Ohio man pretending to be African prince convicted of cheating people out of $800,000

Daryl Robert Harrison was convicted by a jury last week of defrauding 14 people out of more than $800,000.

According to that Department of Justicethe 40-year-old told People he was a Ghanaian prince and went from Prince Daryl R. Attipoe and Prophet Daryl R. Attipoe.

Harrison and his stepfather, awaiting trial, convinced people they were ministers at Power House of Prayer Ministries. CNN reports that this group sponsored “worship services at various church facilities and private homes” in Colorado and Ohio.

Harrison said he has ties to mining and transportation companies in Africa. The Ohio man also told investors that they would get up to 33% on their investment in these companies.

The DOJ press release said that Harrison “did not make interest payments to investors, routinely cut all communications with investors, ignored individual investor requests, and required investors to recover monies invested.”

The 2020 indictment alleges that Harrison and his stepfather decided to “unfairly enrich themselves and PHOP by soliciting funds from investors under false and fraudulent pretenses and allegations and using those funds for the personal benefit of the defendants and for the benefit of PHOP without.” knowledge or approval of the investors.”

Luxury cars and renting a house were among the things Harrison bought with the money he had obtained through scams over a number of years.

Harrison will be sentenced later this year and faces 20 years.