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By John Ogunsemore
A 30-year-old woman, Cristine Petitfrere, faces up to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to launder millions of dollars from American fraud victims to a co-conspirator abroad.
The Miramar, Florida-based woman pleaded guilty on Wednesday, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) said in a statement published on its website.
According to court documents, Petitfrere used bank accounts to receive proceeds from romance scams.
The DoJ said that after receiving money from victims of the scams, Petitfrere kept a portion as a fee and funnelled the remainder to her co-conspirator overseas. Petitfrere laundered over $2.7 million and earned hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees.
“Romance scams involve fraudsters creating fake online personas to gain the trust and affection of victims, ultimately leading to financial exploitation. These schemes not only cause significant financial losses, but also deeply impact the lives of victims, many of whom are elderly. Americans lost $1.14 billion to romance scams in 2023, according to Federal Trade Commission data,” the DoJ said.
Petitfrere is scheduled to be sentenced in the Southern District of Florida on December 11 and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
“A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the US Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors,” the DoJ said.
Head of the DoJ’s Civil Division, Brian Boynton said, “Romance scams cause not only significant losses but also profound emotional harm to countless individuals.
“This prosecution underscores the department’s efforts to dismantle the criminal networks that engage in these sophisticated financial schemes to exploit vulnerable Americans.”
