FL Woman Swindled $2.8M From Holocaust Survivor In Dating Scam: DOJ

NEW YORK — An Orlando-area woman swindled an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor from New York, who she met on an online dating site, of more than $2.8 million, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release.

Peaches Stergo, 36, of Champions Gate pled guilty Friday to one count of wire fraud before a judge in the Southern District of New York.

The crime carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, the DOJ said. Her sentencing will take place July 27.

In addition to her guilty plea, Stergo agreed to pay more than $2.8 million in restitution and to forfeit the more than 100 luxury items she purchased with the funds she received from her victim, including Rolex watches, designer purses and clothing, and gold and jewelry.

“Peaches Stergo stole the life savings from an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor who was just looking for companionship. This conduct is sick — and sad,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said. “Using the millions in fraud proceeds, Stergo lived a life of luxury, purchasing a home in a gated community and a Corvette, taking vacations at hotels like the Ritz Carlton, and buying thousands in designer clothing, while at the same time causing her elderly victim to lose his apartment. Thanks to the hard work of the FBI and this Office, Stergo is being held accountable for her fraud.”

After meeting the victim on a dating site in 2017, she asked him to lend her money to pay her attorney, who she claimed was refusing to release funds from an injury settlement, the DOJ said.

She told him that after he gave her the money, the settlement funds were deposited into her TD Bank account, though her bank records show that she never received any money from an injury settlement.

Over the next four and a half years, Stergo continued lying to him, the DOJ said. She repeatedly demanded that the victim deposit money into her bank accounts. She claimed that if he didn’t, her accounts would be frozen, and he would never be paid back.

In total, the victim wrote 62 checks — totaling more than $2.8 million — that were deposited into one of Stergo’s two bank accounts.

She also created a fake email account that was 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.