The Justice Department arrested Florida, 36, after allegedly committing a “multi-year scheme” to defraud an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor of his savings. The branch said that over the course of more than 4 years, Peaches Stergo took more than $2. 8 million from the survivor.
Stergo was arrested Wednesday. U. S. Attorney Damian Williams said he “maliciously” emptied the unnamed Holocaust survivor’s savings so she “could become a millionaire through fraud. “
According to the Justice Department, Stergo met his victim on a dating site between 2016 and 2017 while living in Manhattan. In early 2017, she asked him if he could borrow cash to pay his lawyer “who, according to her, refused to release the budget from a damages settlement,” the branch said. But bank statements showed she never won the settlement budget.
This is just the beginning of a series of lies, the government said.
Prosecutors say Stergo demanded that the 87-year-old woman give him cash to prevent her accounts from being frozen. During that time, he wrote 62 checks totaling more than $2. 8 million, the Justice Department said, adding that she also used a fake email account. and she created fake letters and invoices that gave the impression of being from a TD Bank employee.
This email account, according to the indictment, used to “repeatedly assure the victim, over the months, that he would be reimbursed if he continued to deposit money” into his bank account.
It wasn’t until around October 2021 that the guy she scammed told her son what had happened.
Stergo was able to use the cash to buy space in a gated community, a boat and several cars, as well as to make “expensive trips” and buy gold coins and bullion, Rolex watches and designer clothing, according to prosecutors. Meanwhile, the Holocaust survivor has since had to leave his apartment, the Justice Department said.
“Stergo forged documents and posed as a bank worker in exchange for a lifetime of luxury travel, Rolex watches and luxury shopping,” Williams said. “Today’s arrest underscores once again this Office’s commitment to seeking justice for victims of money fraud. “
The woman, from Champions Gate near Orlando, is charged with one count of cordon fraud, which the Justice Department says carries a maximum sentence of 20 years.