The United States government said four men in C?te d?Ivoire have been arrested in connection with an international ?sextortion? scheme linked to the death of American kid, Ryan Last.

Head of the US Justice Department?s Criminal Division, Matthew R. Galeotti, Acting US Attorney for the Northern District of California, Patrick D. Robbins and Acting Assistant Director of the FBI?s Criminal Investigative Division, Darren Cox made the announcement.

The suspects were identified as Alfred Kassi, Oumarou Ouedraogo, Moussa Diaby and Oumar Cisse.

The announcement published on the Justice Department?s website last Friday stated that the sextortion scheme targeted thousands of victims, including minors, throughout the US, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Spain, and Italy.

Last, a 17-year-old high school student from San Jose, California, committed suicide in February 2022 hours after being sextorted online by an individual pretending to be a 20-year-old woman.

?Through a lengthy, coordinated investigation involving US and Ivorian law enforcement, the evidence ultimately led law enforcement to identify Alfred Kassi, an Ivorian citizen living in C?te d?Ivoire, as the individual allegedly conducting the sextortion.

?On April 29, Kassi was arrested by Ivorian law enforcement. At the time of his arrest, Kassi allegedly still had the sextortion messages he sent to the 17-year-old victim in February 2022 on his phone,? the announcement reads in part.

It added that the investigation identified several alleged money laundering accomplices who helped Kassi move the money he received from the 17-year-old victim, who had paid $150 in order to prevent his intimate images from being disseminated.

One of those alleged money launderers is Oumarou Ouedraogo, who was arrested by Ivorian law enforcement on April 25.

The Ivorian authorities also arrested Moussa Diaby and Oumar Cisse.

?Both Diaby and Cisse were part of Kassi?s alleged sextortion network and admitted to their own sextortion crimes.

?A US-based accomplice, Jonathan Kassi (unrelated to Alfred Kassi), was convicted in 2023 in a California State Court and sentenced to 18 months in jail,? the announcement further reads.

?The government of C?te d?Ivoire does not extradite its own citizens, so these defendants will be prosecuted in their own country under Ivorian cybercrime statutes,? it adds. (Daily Sun: Text, Excluding Headline)

?A 25-year-old man is in custody for allegedly taking part in a financial sextortion scheme that played a role in the suicide of a San Jose teen, police said Monday.