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Soko Kanneh, 27, and Justin Jusu Kennedy, 30, both of Upper Darby, Pa., were each charged with first-degree larceny and first-degree conspiracy to commit a crime. They were arrested last week in Pennsylvania and extradited to Stamford on Thursday, Stamford police Sgt. Steven Perrotta said.
A third suspect in the case was murdered in Indiana, Perrotta said.
This summer, the three suspects met with an elderly Stamford man and said they needed cash to buy supplies in a scheme that they said would take away the artwork and markings on cash so that it wouldn't look like money to enable them to smuggle cash into their home country, police said.
It would then be converted back into cash and used to benefit people in their country, police said. However — they told the victim — the supplies to do this were expensive and they needed help, police said.
The man agreed to help them and wired them $42,000, police said. That transaction was done in Stamford.
Additionally, the man made transactions that totaled more than $400,000 in other communities outside of Stamford and those are being investigated by other agencies, Perrotta said.
The man eventually realized something was wrong and went to Stamford Police on Sept. 1. Police were able to develop leads to identity the suspects and asked Pennsylvania police to arrest one of the men at his home last week. When police arrived they discovered the second suspect, Perrotta said.
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