{"id":1985429,"date":"2023-07-28T19:01:02","date_gmt":"2023-07-28T23:01:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/female-scammer-gets-4-years-behind-bars-for-deceiving-holocaust-survivor-of-millions\/"},"modified":"2023-07-28T19:04:04","modified_gmt":"2023-07-28T23:04:04","slug":"female-scammer-gets-4-years-behind-bars-for-deceiving-holocaust-survivor-of-millions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/female-scammer-gets-4-years-behind-bars-for-deceiving-holocaust-survivor-of-millions\/","title":{"rendered":"Woman Scammer Jailed 4 Years for Cheating Holocaust Survivor Out of Millions"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffemale-scammer-gets-4-years-behind-bars-for-deceiving-holocaust-survivor-of-millions%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1985429&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"entry-content\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Peaches Stergo, left, leaves Manhattan federal court,\u2064 Thursday, July 27, 2023, in New York after she was sentenced to more than four years in prison for \u200bcheating an 87-year-old Holocaust\u200d survivor of $2.8 million. Stergo\u2063 met him on\u2063 a dating website seven years ago. Prosecutors\u2064 say the 36-year-old Champions Gate, Florida, resident used the money to live lavishly. (AP Photo\/Larry\u200b Neumeister)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>OAN\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oann.com\/tag\/geraldyn-berry\">Geraldyn Berry<\/a><br \/>3:50 \u200cPM \u2013 Friday, July 28, 2023<\/h2>\n<p>A 36-year-old woman from Champions \u2062Gate, Florida, has been sentenced to four years in \u200cprison for masterminding a romantic\u200d scam that targeted an \u200d87-year-old Holocaust survivor out \u200dof nearly\u200b $3 million.<\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1663871513696-art-1\" style=\"min-width: 320px; min-height: 50px;  text-align: center;\">  \t<script>  \t\tgoogletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1663871513696-art-1'); });  \t<\/script>  <\/div>\n<div class=\"ad-slot__ad-label\">Advertisement<\/div>\n<\/p>\n<p>During the sentencing on Thursday, Manhattan federal\u2063 Judge Edgardo Ramos, characterized Peaches Stergo as \u201cunspeakably cruel\u201d while pointing out\u200c that the 36-year-old \u200chad \u2063been motivated by\u2063 \u201cgreed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Stergo pleaded guilty to wire\u2063 fraud after deceiving the \u200delderly victim with a\u2063 web of romantic lies, tricking him into believing \u2062she\u200d was genuinely interested in \u2062him. \u200dReferring to her\u200b heinous scheme as her \u201cbusiness.\u201d Stergo joked with her real boyfriend about her successful con after the victim \u2064expressed his love for \u2064her.<\/p>\n<p>The fraudulent activity began several years ago\u2064 when Stergo met the victim on a dating website. She\u200b started borrowing \u200cmoney from him under the pretense of paying an attorney \u200cto release funds from a non-existent injury \u2062settlement. Despite no settlement funds ever\u200c being deposited into\u200c her account, Stergo relentlessly demanded \u200cmore money from \u200cthe elderly victim, \u200bwriting a total of 62 checks\u200d amounting to \u2062over \u2063$2.8\u200c million.<\/p>\n<p>To further manipulate the victim, Stergo impersonated a TD\u200d Bank employee and \u200ccreated fake\u2062 invoices from the bank. She even traveled to New York to visit the \u200cvictim\u200d at his Manhattan\u2062 apartment, using a false identity as \u201cAlice,\u201d a Florida\u2063 nanny. \u200bConcealing her real relationship and children, Stergo exploited the elderly man\u2019s \u2064cognitive \u200cdecline to continue her\u2063 scam.<\/p>\n<p>Over \u2063the course of the fraud, Stergo lavishly spent the stolen \u2063money on luxury \u200citems such as designer\u200b clothes from high-end stores like Louis Vuitton and Hermes, a boat, and multiple cars, including a Corvette and Suburban. She\u2064 also indulged \u200cin luxurious vacations at places like the\u200b Ritz-Carlton. As the victim\u2019s funds dried \u2064up, \u200dhe lost \u200chis life\u2064 savings and \u200bhis apartment, falling victim to the heartless deception.<\/p>\n<p>Prosecutors said that \u200bafter \u2064the man ran \u200cout of money,\u200b Stergo urged him to sell off\u200c assets and borrow money \u2062to continue the cash flow.<\/p>\n<p>The elderly victim,\u200b whose identity remains confidential, suffers from cognitive decline. It \u200bwas revealed\u2064 that he had moved to\u200c the United States during his early 20\u2019s after he suffered immeasurable\u200d trauma and losing his\u200d parents at the \u200bage of six.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>\u201cAs\u200c a Holocaust survivor, I \u200bhave endured unspeakable pain and loss in my \u200clife, but never did I imagine\u2062 that I would be\u200b subjected to\u2063 such a heartless betrayal in my old age,\u201d the \u2062unidentified\u2064 victim said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Stergo\u2019s lawyer, Ann Marie Fitz, defended her client, describing her\u2064 as a \u200dpartner to her \u200dlongtime boyfriend, a \u2063born-again Christian and a devoted mother to two teenage \u2064boys. Fitz argued that Stergo had a\u2062 genuine and caring relationship with the victim, celebrating holidays together and providing care when he \u200cwas \u200cunwell.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, Stergo\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/female-scammer-gets-4-years-behind-bars-for-deceiving-holocaust-survivor-of-millions\/\" title=\"Woman Scammer Jailed 4 Years for Cheating Holocaust Survivor Out of Millions\">lawyer cited childhood trauma<\/a> as a \u2064potential cause for\u2064 her client\u2019s compulsive behaviors and\u2062 participation in scams.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>\u201cShe is not the\u200d cold-hearted person \u200bthe government and media have\u200c made her out to be,\u201d the lawyer wrote. \u201cThere was a genuine, caring\u200b relationship that\u200c Ms. \u200cStergo had with the victim in this case \u2014 she spent holidays with him, she took care \u200cof him when he was ill and, as\u2062 the victim\u2019s cousin described, she\u200c was \u2018doting\u2019 on him.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>United States Attorney\u2064 Damian Williams condemned Stergo\u2019s fraudulent activity.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>\u201cPeaches Stergo callously defrauded an 87-year-old Holocaust\u200d survivor \u200cwho was simply looking for companionship,\u201d \u2063Williams said. \u201cBut she\u200c did\u2064 not get away with it.\u200c As today\u2019s sentence\u200c demonstrates, perpetrators of romance\u2062 scams will be held to account for their \u2064crimes.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>During her defense, Stergo\u2019s attorneys claimed that she did not target \u200cthe man because he was in the Holocaust.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote data-service=\"twitter\" data-category=\"marketing\" data-placeholder-image=\"https:\/\/c3.oann.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/complianz-gdpr\/assets\/images\/placeholders\/twitter-minimal.jpg\" class=\"cmplz-placeholder-element twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Q&#038;A: Inner City Press interviewed Ann \u2063Fitz, lawyer for Peaches Stergo after she got 51 \u200cmonths for defrauding an 87\u2063 year\u2063 old Holocaust survivor out \u200dof his life savings. Q: Why didn&#8217;t \u200dthe defense mention\u200b the Holocaust? A: She didn&#8217;t target \u2064him for that. But she knew <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/FAMzfljO0A\">pic.twitter.com\/FAMzfljO0A<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Inner \u2063City \u200bPress (@innercitypress) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/innercitypress\/status\/1684593695754981378?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 27, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script type=\"text\/plain\" data-service=\"twitter\" data-category=\"marketing\" async data-cmplz-src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>In addition to\u2064 the prison time, the scam artist also agreed to pay $2,830,775 in restitution and claimed she will forfeit the various luxury items that she\u200c purchased\u2064 with the stolen money.<\/p>\n<p>According \u200bto the consumer group Comparitech, in 2022 roughly 73,000 Americans were scammed \u2062out of $1 billion through online\u200c dating.<\/p>\n<p>Stay informed! Receive breaking news \u200dblasts\u2062 directly to your inbox for free. Subscribe here. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oann.com\/alerts\">https:\/\/www.oann.com\/alerts<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<h3>Many across\u200b the country\u2064 have their eyes on California\u2063 Senate Bill\u200c SB-14. It aims\u2062 to make child trafficking a serious felony, which \u2062would result in harsher \u200bpunishment for offenders, such as longer prison sentences.<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<h3>Hunter\u200c Biden\u2019s ex best friend and business \u2064partner is \u2063expected to\u200b testify to Congress about the Biden\u2019s foreign dealings.<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<h3>House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan says new documents \u200bprove Facebook engaged in content \u2062moderation and censorship \u2064due to\u200c pressure from the Biden Administration.<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<h3>with\u2062 Daniel Schmidt<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<h3>By David Shepardson (Reuters) -The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/national-highway-traffic-safety-administration-clears-way-for-driverless-vehicles\/\" title=\"National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Clears Way for Driverless Vehicles\">backup safety driver<\/a> behind the wheel of a self-driving Uber Technologies \u2062test vehicle that \u200cstruck and killed\u2026<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<h3>(Reuters) \u200d-Elon Musk said on Friday monthly users \u2063of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-new-acting-attorney-general-jeff-rosen-recently-wrote-an-essay-on-foreign-influence-in-us-elections-this-tells-us-a-little-about-his-knowledge-of-whats-going-on-today\/\" title=\"The New Acting Attorney General Jeff Rosen Recently Wrote an Essay on Foreign Influence in US Elections \u2013 This Tells Us A Little About His Knowledge of What\u2019s Going On Today\">social media platform<\/a> X, formerly known as Twitter,\u200b reached a \u201cnew high\u201d and\u2026<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<h3>(Reuters) \u2013 U.S. President Joe Biden is planning to sign an executive order to limit critical U.S. technology investments in China by\u2026<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<h3>By Joyce Lee SEOUL\u2062 (Reuters) -From Intel to Samsung, global chipmakers \u2063are celebrating the beginning of the end of a semiconductor supply\u2026<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Peaches Stergo exits Manhattan federal court, NY, on July 27, 2023. She received over four years in prison for defrauding an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor of $2.8 million. Stergo, a 36-year-old from Champions Gate, FL, met the victim on a dating site seven years ago. Prosecutors confirm she misused the funds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1755,"featured_media":1985430,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[542],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1985429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-oann"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1985429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1755"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1985429"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1985429\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1985430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1985429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1985429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1985429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}