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Tag: Fraud

  • Florida Woman Accused Of Defrauding 87-Year-Old Holocaust Survivor Of Almost $3 Million

    Florida Woman Accused Of Defrauding 87-Year-Old Holocaust Survivor Of Almost $3 Million

    On Wednesday, January 25th, a Florida woman was arrested for allegedly defrauding an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor, The Guardian reported. “Today, we allege the defendant callously preyed on a senior citizen simply seeking companionship, defrauding him of his life savings,” said FBI assistant director Michael J Driscoll on the day of the arrest.

    The accused, Peaches Stergo, met the victim on a dating website in 2014, posing as a woman named “Alice Watson.” In 2017, the 38-year-old told the unnamed elderly man that she had won a lawsuit from a car accident she was in, and needed money to pay her lawyer in order to receive the settlement funds. Despite her never being a part of a suit, he wrote her a check of $25,000. Later, she told the victim that if she wasn’t given more money, the bank would freeze her account and prevent her from paying him back. She even disguised her voice to pose as a bank employee to facilitate the ruse.

    Within five years, Stergo received 62 checks totaling $2.8 million. The accused reportedly used the money to pay for several homes, cars, designer clothing, international trips, name brand clothing, jewelry, and gold and silver bars. While she and her husband were embracing a luxurious lifestyle, her victim lost his life savings and was forced to move out of his Manhattan home.

    Peaches Stergo has since been charged with one count of wire fraud. If convicted, she could face up to 20 years in prison.

  • Funeral Home Director Receives 20 Years In Prison After Cutting Up Bodies And Selling The Parts

    Funeral Home Director Receives 20 Years In Prison After Cutting Up Bodies And Selling The Parts

    In July of 2018, a funeral director in Montrose, Colorado pleaded guilty dismembering and selling body parts of the deceased without the consent of family members. According to Insider, the accused fraudulently disposed of the bodies of 560 people within 8 years.

    “Instead of offering guidance, these greedy women betrayed the trust of hundreds of victims and mutilated their loved ones,” Leonard Carollo, the FBI Denver Acting Special Agent in Charge, said in a statement.

    Megan Hess, the owner of Sunset Mesa Funeral Directors, would meet with people seeking cremation services, charging them around $1,000. Instead of providing grieving families and friends with their loved one’s ashes, the 46-year-old and her mother would harvest the deceased’s body parts and sell them to body broker services. Government records state that many clients received a combination of the unsold parts of the deceased and concrete mix.

    Many family members testified in court, stating that Hess’ actions caused irreparable damage. “Our sweet mother, they dismembered her,” one family member, Erin Smith, said. “We don’t even have a name for a crime this heinous.”

    Selling human organs is illegal and can only be donated, but other body parts (arms, heads, and spines) can be sold to educational and research institutions. In order to accept the remains from Hess, these scientific organizations unknowingly received forged donor forms.

    On Tuesday, January 3rd, over four years later, Hess was finally sentenced to 20 years in prison for fraud. Her mother, 69-year-old Shirley Koch, received 15 years for aiding and abetting the fraud.