Naman Shrestha
In the episode titled ‘The Royal Racket’ of Hulu’s ‘Scam Goddess,’ Laci Mosley headed to Dayton, Ohio, where Daryl Harrison pretended to be a prince of Ghana with lots of connections across the world. For several years, he made false promises and made various locals invest in his business. As she investigated the scam, she interviewed several people closely associated with the swindler in order to gain more insights into the case and the investigation.
Daryl Harrison Swindled His Victims by Posing as a Prince of Ghana and Weaving a Web of Lies Around it
Several years prior to pretending to be a prince of Ghana, Daryl Robert Harrison was married to Ellen, whom he met at a Cincinnati church when she was 19 years old. Back then, he was allegedly an honest and compassionate individual respected and loved by many people in the community. As sparks flew between them, they began seeing each other before ending up tying the knot in the presence of their loved ones. Not long after, the marriage turned abusive and chaotic as his real personality became clearer, as per Ellen’s claims. Although they shared six children between them, the marriage ended within three years, and they parted ways around the mid-2000s.
Less than ten years later, Daryl reportedly relocated to Dayton, Ohio, falsely posing as a Ghanaian prince. In January 2014, his entire scamming scheme began. Claiming that he had direct connections with African trucking and mining companies, he convinced at least 14 people, including Peggy Braun, to invest in them, promising an investment return of 28 to 33 percent. Along with his stepfather, he claimed that they were ministers with Power House of Prayer Ministries. Several members of the congregation believed in their scheme and invested large sums of money, unaware of the fact that it was all a scam.
Upon receiving the investments, Daryl used to withdraw thousands of dollars in cash from the Ministries bank accounts and used the funds to fulfill his and his stepfather’s personal expenses, such as renting a house in Colorado, buying flight tickets, purchasing luxury cars, renting cars, and hotel accommodations. After a decade of no contact, Daryl got in touch with his former wife, Ellen, in 2015. She opened up about the same to Local 12, stating, “I knew that there was something illegal going on at that time. Just because of the exorbitant amount of money that he had. He was showing up with luxury vehicles There just seemed to be a lot of money around him, which just seemed really odd. I mean, I hadn’t seen or heard from him in ten years, but I couldn’t figure out where the money was coming from.”
Daryl Harrison’s Former Wife Was Suspicious of Him
When the time for child support payments came, Ellen said that Daryl claimed he was a prince, pastor, prophet, and CEO, making money by financing various biofuel refineries in Africa as well as Southeast Asia. Having doubts about his claims, she informed the authorities about his claims and kept pressing them. “I did everything I could to try to expose some of the evil that I saw going on just through my personal interactions with him and the criminal activity that he was involved in, but nobody really seemed to listen, and that was extremely frustrating,” she said.
However, when the authorities received multiple complaints against Daryl and his stepfather, they launched an investigation. Several years later, they found enough evidence of fraud against him, leading to his official indictment by a federal grand jury in May 2020. In the indictment, it was stated that Daryl “failed to provide investors with interest payments, routinely terminated all communications with investors, ignored individual investor inquiries, and ignored demands from investors seeking the return of investment monies.” Also known as Prince Daryl R. Attipoe and Prophet Daryl R. Attipoe, he was accused of defrauding at least 14 victims from January 2014 to September 2020 of more than $800,000.
Daryl Harrison is Serving His Sentence, Awaiting His Release Date
More than two years later, Daryl Harrison’s trial for his crimes commenced on September 5, 2022. After nearly 10 days of back-and-forth between the prosecution and defense, the jury deliberated and returned with a guilty verdict. On September 16, the scammer was convicted of mail and wire fraud, conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, and witness tampering. In an attempt to get a lower sentence, he and his defense highlighted letters of support he had received from parishioners and family members.
Moreover, the defense also used his wife’s battle against stage IV cancer as a factor to get a lenient sentence. On the other hand, the prosecution described the swindler’s crimes as cold and premeditated. They further classified him to be an “extremely self-centered, self-possessed sociopath who has no respect for societal rules or norms, and further lacks any empathy or sympathy for his victims.” A few months later, on March 15, 2023, he was given the maximum sentence allowed under the law as he was ordered to spend 20 years in prison for his crimes.
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