SAN JOSE — 4 males in Côte d’Ivoire have been arrested in reference to a sexual extortion, or “sextortion,” scheme that focused 1000’s of victims across the globe, together with a San Jose teenager who ended up taking his life, in keeping with authorities.
Three of his accomplices had been recognized as Oumarou Ouedraogo, Moussa Diaby and Oumar Cisse.
Ryan Final, a 17-year-old senior at Sobrato Excessive College, died by suicide at his South San Jose dwelling on Feb. 26, 2022.
An investigation revealed the teenager had corresponded on-line with a person pretending to be a 20-year-old lady, later recognized by authorities as Kassi. The dialog reportedly turned intimate and the 2 exchanged sexually revealing pictures.
Ryan was then advised he needed to pay the opposite individual $5,000 or else his photograph can be revealed publicly. After the teenager stated he couldn’t afford to pay that a lot, the quantity was lowered to $150. He paid the smaller sum, however the financial calls for continued.
When Kassi was arrested on April 29, he allegedly had the messages he despatched to the teenager on his telephone.
Authorities stated Ouedraogo helped Kassi launder the cash he obtained from the sufferer.
Diaby and Cisse, in the meantime, had been a part of Kassi’s alleged sexual extortion community and admitted to their very own sexual extortion crimes, in keeping with authorities.
In September 2023, one other confederate based mostly in the USA, Jonathan Kassi, was sentenced to time served and supervised launch after he admitted to at least one depend of felony extortion of the teenager. Jonathan Kassi isn’t associated to Alfred Kassi.
The federal government of Côte d’Ivorie doesn’t extradite its residents, so Alfred Kassi, Ouedraogo, Diaby and Cisse will likely be prosecuted in their very own nation below Ivorian cybercrime statutes.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating the case with assist from the San Jose Police Division, the U.S. embassy in Abidjan and Meta, in keeping with authorities.
Victims of sexual extortion or anybody who is aware of a sufferer of sexual extortion can contact the FBI at 800-225-5324 or file a report with the Web Crime Middle at www.ic3.gov.
Initially Printed: Could 9, 2025 at 7:50 PM PDT
