A 36-year-old Florida woman used a romance scam to swindle.
A Holocaust survivor out of his $2.8 million in life savings. Federal prosecutors said Wednesday.
Peach Stargo, of Championsgate, southwest of Orlando, was arrested Wednesday in Florida. And charged with wire fraud, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Southern New York said.
Stargo, who also goes by “Alice,” met an 87-year-old Manhattan victim. On a dating website six or seven years ago, officials said.
In 2017 he asked for money — claiming he had received.
A series of lies followed over four years, according to an indictment.
Stargo falsely claimed she needed more money or else her TD Bank accounts would be frozen. And never refunded, according to the complaint.
He forged emails pretending to be TD Bank. And created fake invoices to explain large transfers to the victim’s bank. The complaint said.
It ended in October 2021 when the man told his son he had given.
Online federal court documents did not list an attorney for Stargo. A number listed as owned by him does not appear to be active.
Stargo spent the money on a house, a condo, a boat, trips, cars and Rolex watches, prosecutors said.
People lost more than $1 billion in romance scams across the United States in 2021, the FBI said in February. There were about 24,000 victims that year, the agency said.
