36-Year-Old Woman Jailed for 4 Years Over $2.8M Swindle of Elderly Holocaust Survivor

Peaches Stergo.Photo: U.S. Attorney’s Office

A Florida woman has been sentenced to more than four years in jail for defrauding an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor of his life savings, authorities announced on Thursday.

TheU.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New Yorkshared a press release in which Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced that Peaches Stergo, 36, of Champion Gates, Florida, had received a sentence of 51 months in prison. The sentence was related to a years-long scheme that deprived Stergo’s victim of more than $2.8 million.

Stergo was arrested in January and pleaded guilty to wire fraud three months later,NBC Newsreported on Friday.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office release included details from statements made in court, other filings and a Justice Department indictment, which detailed that Stergo, who went under the name of “Alice,“met the man on a dating websiteabout six or seven years ago.

“From at least in or about May 2017, up to and including at least October 2021, Stergo engaged in a scheme to defraud an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor (the “Victim”) of over $2.8 million, which was his life savings,” the release detailed.

“After the Victim gave her the money, Stergo said the settlement funds had been deposited into her TD Bank account. In reality, bank records show Stergo never received any money from an injury settlement.”

Peaches Stergo.AP Photo

AP Photo

“Over the next four and a half years, Stergo continued her lies,” the press release continued. “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.”  Stergo’s victim wrote a total of 62 checks that were deposited into bank accounts.

AsPEOPLE previously reported, the Justice Department indictment also stated that the victim, according to records, wrote his first check to Stergo in the amount of $25,000 in May 2017. The checks from the victim to Sterto then escalated to almost monthly payments of $50,000.

The indictment also noted that Stergo had created a fake email account for a TD Bank employee as well as a fake invoice and fake letters written as if from a TD Bank employee.

According to prosecutors, Stergo visited the victim’s residence in New York City and misidentified herself as a nanny from Florida — without disclosing to the victim that she was currently in a relationship with another man, theAssociated Pressreported.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office release also noted that Stergo called defrauding the victim her “business,” and “told her real significant other that the Victim had said he “loved” her.” Stergo was described as finding her actions amusing, while authorities also noted that she wrote in a text message “that the Victim was “broke” — that “[h]e don’t have anything else to pawn.”

The victim of Stergo’s fraud was forced to give up his apartment, while she used the money to purchase, “a home in a gated community, a condominium, a boat, and numerous cars, including a Corvette and a Suburban,” according to authorities.

“During the course of the fraud, Stergo 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.”

Alamy

Finally, the victimin October 2021 told his son about the arrangement,from which at that point, the payments stopped.

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“Peaches Stergo callously defrauded an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor who was simply looking for companionship,” Williams said in the press release. “She used the millions of dollars in fraud proceeds to live a life of luxury at the victim’s expense.  But she did not get away with it.  As today’s sentence demonstrates, perpetrators of romance scams will be held to account for their crimes.”

The victim, who lost his parents in the Holocaust when he was six years old, wrote a letter to the judge that read, per AP. “As a Holocaust survivor, I have endured unspeakable pain and loss in my life, but never did I imagine that I would be subjected to such a heartless betrayal in my old age.”

Stergo was also sentenced to three years of supervised release and must pay restitution in the amount of $2,830,775, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

source: people.com