Florence Mwende Musau,A 38-year-old woman, has been sentenced to over three in prison and two and a half years of supervised release by US District Court Allison D. Burroughs.
The US Department of Justice found Musau guilty of involvement in a fraudulent online scheme, including romance scams.
Criminals perpetrating romance scams create fictitious profiles on online dating or social media websites, gain the trust of potential victims and then direct those victims to transfer money under false pretences.
She was also ordered to pay $900,000 (Sh112 million) to the victims and to forfeit a Lexus SUV and approximately $350,000 (Sh44 million).
In 2021, Musau was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud after being caught participating in a scam that involved using fake identities to open bank accounts and receive money from victims under false pretences.
She withdrew large sums of money from these accounts, often less than $10,000 (Sh1.2 million) to evade detection.
Musau also received the proceeds of fraudulent State Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Benefits in the names of victims.
As part of the scheme, Musau used at least three different aliases to open about ten fraudulent bank accounts and receive approximately $1 million (Sh124 million) in fraud proceeds.
