Woman Admits To $2.8 Million 'Sick' Romance Scam Of Holocaust Survivor
By Jason Hall
April 17, 2023
A Florida woman admitted to scamming an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor out of $2.8 million as part of a romance plot, according to federal prosecutors.
Peaches Stergo, 36, pled guilty to one count of wire fraud in connection to accusations that she "stole the life savings from an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor who was just looking for companionship," U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a news release last Friday (April 14). Stergo reportedly met the man on a dating website and initially asked to borrow money from him "in or about early 2017," which she claimed was to pay her lawyer who was refusing to release funds from an injury settlement.
Stergo continued to repeatedly demand the victim deposit money to her TD Bank account during the next four and a half years, which totaled $2.8 million in 62 total checks. The 87-year-old lost his life savings and was forced to give up his apartment while Stergo purchased a home in a gated community, a condominium, a boat and several cars, as well as took expensive trips with the money.
"This conduct is sick – and sad. Using the millions in fraud proceeds, Stergo lived a life of luxury, purchasing a home in a gated community and a Corvette, taking vacations at hotels like the Ritz Carlton, and buying thousands in designer clothing, while at the same time causing her elderly victim to lose his apartment. Thanks to the hard work of the FBI and this Office, Stergo is being held accountable for her fraud,” Williams said in the news release.
A guilty plea to one count of wire fraud carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Stergo also agreed to pay $2,830,775 in restitution and forfeit the same amount, as well as the more than 100 luxury items purchased during the scheme.