A 21-year-old Ghanaian citizen, Cross Abu Cole, has been arrested in the United States for allegedly attempting to extort money by threatening to release explicit images, including nude photos of a victim taken when he was a minor.
The arrest was announced in a press release by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York on Tuesday, June 10, 2025.
According to authorities, Cole was detained upon arrival at Houston Airport, Texas, and charged with interstate communication with intent to extort. If convicted, he could face up to two years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
Details of the extortion case
Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron J. Mango, who is leading the prosecution, stated that the investigation began in October 2022, when a U.S. resident reported receiving threats related to nude images from his teenage years.
The victim disclosed that he was contacted via a mobile number and was told to send $200 through CashApp to the handle $zettsa, or risk having the explicit photos sent to his Snapchat contacts. Shortly after the threats began, the victim received two nude photos — one of himself as a minor, and another of a friend — which appeared to have been accessed through his compromised Snapchat account, previously linked to a hacked Yahoo email.
Although the victim initially tried to make the payment, he cancelled the transaction after speaking with his father. Despite this, the threats continued from the same number.
FBI Investigation and arrest
A subsequent FBI investigation traced the origin of the messages and hacked accounts to Cole. He was arrested and appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael J. Roemer, who ordered that he be held in custody.
The case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), under the direction of Acting Special Agent-in-Charge Mark Grimm.
Legal proceedings and presumption of innocence
Authorities remind the public that a criminal complaint is merely an accusation, and that the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
