A Florida woman has pled guilty in her years-long scheme to defraud an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor of his life savings.
Peaches Stergo, 36, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud, a charge that carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
With the guilty plea, Peaches agreed to pay $2,830,775 in restitution and to forfeit the same amount, along with over 100 luxury items she purchased with fraud proceeds, including Rolex watches, designer purses and clothing, and large amounts of gold and jewelry.
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According to investigators, from at least in or about May 2017, up to October 2021, Peaches engaged in a scheme to defraud an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor (the “Victim”) of over $2.8 million, which was his life savings.
Peaches met the Victim on a dating website approximately six or seven years ago. In or about early 2017, Peaches asked the Victim to borrow money to pay her lawyer, who she claimed was refusing to release funds from an injury settlement.
After the Victim gave her the money, Peaches said the settlement funds had been deposited into her TD Bank account. In reality, bank records show Peaches never received any money from an injury settlement.
Over the next four and a half years, Peaches continued her lies. She repeatedly demanded that the Victim deposit money into her bank accounts. She claimed that if he did not, her accounts would be frozen and he would never be paid back. In total, the Victim wrote 62 checks — totaling over $2.8 million — that were deposited into one of two of Peaches’ bank accounts.
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Peaches created a fake email account, intended to appear as if it belonged to a TD Bank employee. She also created fake letters from a TD Bank employee and fake invoices.
While the Victim lost his life savings and was forced to give up his apartment, Peaches lived a life of luxury with the millions she received from the fraud: she bought a home in a gated community, a condominium, a boat, and numerous cars, including a Corvette and a Suburban.
During the course of the fraud, Peaches also took expensive trips, staying at places like the Ritz Carlton, and spent many tens of thousands of dollars on expensive meals, gold coins and bars, jewelry, Rolex watches, and designer clothing from stores like Tiffany, Ralph Lauren, Neiman Marcus, Louis Vuitton, and Hermes.
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The maximum potential sentence in this case is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by a judge. Sentencing has been scheduled for July 27, 2023, at 11:00 a.m.
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