SCAM ARTISTS SEE OLD PEOPLE AS EASY PICKINGS

Peaches Stergo: Woman admits to scamming Holocaust survivor via dating site, robbing $2.8M life savings

 

By Juna Tharakan 

 

meaww 
April 15, 2023

 

 

The con was allegedly carried out over the course of several years by 36-year-old Peaches Stergo, and left the 87-year-old victim so impoverished, he had to leave his Manhattan home

 

ORLANDO, FLORIDA: A Florida woman admitted to scamming an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor after she robbed his life savings using a dating site. In a "sick and sad" dating scam, Peaches Stergo cheated him to fund her luxurious life as she stole more than $2.8 million and his apartment, Ritz Carlton vacations, a gated residential community, and a condo.

In a new release on Friday, the U.S. Attorney's Office said that the 36-year-old woman pleaded guilty to a wire fraud charge which carries a jail sentence of up to 20 years. Stergo is required to pay more than $2.83 million and forfeit the 100 luxury items she bought using the money from her fraud. The items included designer clothing and purses, large amounts of jewelry and gold, and Rolex watches, according to authorities. The woman is scheduled to be sentenced on July 27, reported Law and Crime.

Stergo lived a life of luxury

 

The gated community where the suspect lives features amenities like Golf Courses, restaurants, and a personal spa for residents

Meanwhile, feds wrote in an indictment filed Wednesday, Stergo lived like a queen, snapping up this $300,000 home in a posh private community in Florida, as well as Rolex watches, a boat, two cars (not pictured), and several other luxury items

 

Talking about the scam, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said, "Peaches Stergo stole the life savings from an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor who was just looking for companionship," and added, "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."

About six or seven years ago, Stergo and the victim whose name has not been revealed met on a dating site. In 2017, the woman asked him if he could lend her money to fund her lawyer as she claimed the lawyer refused to release money from an injury settlement. However, no such settlement existed. The Holocaust survivor who fell for the scam gave her money and Stergo told him that her TD Bank account has received the settlement fund. According to the indictment, "Stergo created fake letters from a TD Bank employee, which falsely claimed her account had a hold which would only be lifted if many tens of thousands of dollars were deposited into her account."

"Stergo also created fake invoices for the victim to provide to his bank after the bank began questioning the large and repeated transfers of money to Stergo," the indictment stated.

Stergo scammed her victim for nearly five years

Stergo continued demanding money for almost four and a half years. She told the victim that she will not be able to pay him back if he did not transfer money into her account as otherwise, her account would be frozen. Once a month, the victim wrote checks with a total of 62 checks by the time the scam stopped. A total amount of more than $2.8 million was deposited into one of Stergo's accounts. From the scammed money, Stergo spent thousands of dollars on luxurious items and took expensive trips.

According to federal prosecutors, the scam came to an end when the victim told his son that he had given his life savings to the woman he met on a dating site over time. As per the indictment, "The victim’s son told his father that he had been scammed. After that, the victim stopped writing checks to Stergo."