A Kenyan woman was on Tuesday sentenced to seven years in jail by a United States court in Boston, Massachusetts, for running a romance scam targeting individuals in the US.
Florence Mwende Musau was ordered to pay Sh123 million ($957,000) in restitution for her role in romance scams and other online frauds designed to deceive victims into sending money to bank accounts she and five others controlled.
Musau, 38, was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud.
Court documents say the group created fictitious profiles on online dating or social media websites, collectively swindling their victims over Sh480 million ($4 million).
She pleaded guilty in 2021 at a Boston Federal court and was on Tuesday sentenced to 44 months in prison and 30 months of supervised release.
According to the Massachusetts Attorney’s Office, Musau and her accomplices created fictitious profiles on online dating or social media websites to gain the trust of potential victims and then direct those victims to transfer money under false pretence.
Musau used fake passports in the names of numerous aliases to open bank accounts in and around Boston to receive the proceeds of the romance scams.
She then executed large cash withdrawals from those accounts, generally structured in amounts less than Sh1.2 million, in an effort to evade detection and currency transaction reporting requirements.
Musau also received the proceeds of fraudulent state pandemic unemployment assistance benefits in the names of victims.
“As part of the scheme, Musau used at least three different aliases to open nearly ten fraudulent bank accounts and receive approximately $1 million in fraud proceeds,” reads court documents.
Massachusetts Judge Allison Burroughs also directed the Kenyan woman to forfeit approximately Sh44 million ($350,000) and a Lexus SUV.
