A 36-year-old lady will spend the subsequent 4 years in jail for swindling over $2.8 million from an 87-year-old man. A choose sentenced Peaches Stergo on Thursday (Jul. 27)–months after she pleaded responsible to wire fraud in April.
The Southern District of New York U.S. Attorney’s Office says Stergo ran a “romance scam” on the aged Holocaust survivor. She cleared his life financial savings.
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The sufferer’s identify was not launched, however his dad and mom reportedly died within the Holocaust. In their sentencing request, prosecutors included an excerpt of the sufferer’s affect assertion, per NBC News. He relocated to the United States throughout his 20s in the hunt for a greater life. Now, he believes his life will finish with nothing to his identify.
“Over the next 60 years, I worked tirelessly to establish a successful business, family, and home in New York. I am now 88 years old, and the last thing I expected was to finish my days in the same manner that I started them–penniless and betrayed,” the Holocaust survivor mentioned.
Q&A: Inner City Press interviewed Ann Fitz, lawyer for Peaches Stergo after she received 51 months for defrauding an 87 yr outdated Holocaust survivor out of his life financial savings. Q: Why did not the protection point out the Holocaust? A: She did not goal him for that. But she knew pic.twitter.com/FAMzfljO0A
— Inner City Press (@innercitypress) July 27, 2023
How Peaches Stergo Scammed Over $2.8 Million From A Holocaust Survivor
Police arrested Peaches Stergo in January after the sufferer’s son turned conscious of the financially-draining scenario.
Peaches first met the sufferer on a courting web site seven years in the past. By May 2017, she had requested his monetary assist to allegedly pay a lawyer. Her story was that she gained an harm settlement, however her lawyer was withholding it, awaiting his payment cost.
After the sufferer abided by her request, Stergo claimed her settlement cash had been obtainable in her TD Bank account. Citing financial institution information, prosecutors uncovered that she by no means acquired any harm settlement cash.
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Over the subsequent 4 years, the sufferer wrote 62 checks to Peaches. She steadily demanded he deposit cash into her accounts, mendacity about them being frozen if he didn’t.
She saved up her fraudulent charade with equipment like faux invoices, “a fake email account intended to appear as if it belonged to a TD Bank employee,” and “fake letters from a TD Bank employee.”
Peaches Stergo Spent Victim’s Life Savings On A Home, Trips & Luxury Items
Stergo drained the sufferer’s funds to the purpose that he was compelled to surrender his house. Meanwhile, she used that $2.8 million to stay a luxurious life-style with an actual lover. The district legal professional’s workplace assertion revealed Peaches bought a house in a gated neighborhood, a apartment, and a ship. She additionally purchased a number of vehicles, together with a Corvette and Suburban.
The scheming jet-setter additionally “took expensive trips,” stayed in luxurious accommodations just like the Ritz Carlton, and spent “tens of hundreds of {dollars} on costly meals, gold cash, and bars, jewellery, and Rolex watches. Stergo even upgraded her wardrobe with items from Tiffany, Ralph Lauren, Neiman Marcus, Louis Vuitton, and Hermes.
When the Holocaust survivor lastly stopped sending her cash, Peaches was upset–sentiments she revealed in a textual content, per prosecutors.
“I am just aggravated, hurt, frustrated that I haven’t made money….I don’t want to work…it’s too hard,” Stergo wrote.
To the surface world, Stergo described her elaborate romance rip-off as her “business.” Meanwhile, her actual lover appeared aware of her scheme. According to uncovered textual content messages, Peaches made enjoyable of the Holocaust survivor after he informed her he beloved her. She additionally joked about him being “broke” with nothing else “to pawn.”
On Thursday, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams mentioned:
“Peaches Stergo callously defrauded an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor who was simply looking for companionship. She used the millions of dollars in fraud proceeds to live a life of luxury at the victim’s expense. But she did not get away with it. As today’s sentence demonstrates, perpetrators of romance scams will be held to account for their crimes.”
The sentencing official, Judge Edgardo Ramos, agreed with Williams, saying Peaches’ conduct was “unspeakably cruel” and motivated by “greed.”
In addition to 51 months in jail, Stergo received three years of supervised launch. She additionally has to forfeit and pay $2,830,775 in restitution. Stergo additionally has to forfeit her gated neighborhood dwelling and over 100 luxurious objects.