A Florida woman has entered a guilty plea to laundering millions on behalf of an international romance scam scheme. Cristine Petitfrere, 30, from Miramar admitted to conspiracy to commit money laundering yesterday, as reported by the Department of Justice.
The operation involved receiving money from romance scam victims, keeping a fee, and transferring the balance to a co-conspirator in Ghana. The court documents indicate that via her company GlamGoddessArtistry, Petitfrere wired over $2.7 million from victims – many of who were seniors in their late 60s to early 70s, dwelling in places as widespread as Arizona, Indiana, and Virginia – and profited hundreds of thousands of dollars for herself, as Local 10 details.
According to the Department of Justice, Petitfrere is facing a potential maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. Romance scams are notorious for using fake online identities to exploit victims for money, a phenomenon that has cost Americans $1.14 billion in the last year alone, according to Federal Trade Commission data. "Romance scams cause not only significant losses but also profound emotional harm to countless individuals," Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton stated.
Sentencing for Petitfrere is set for Dec. 11 in the Southern District of Florida. The case was investigated by the FBI Miami Field Office and is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Matthew Robinson and Lauren M. Elfner of the Civil Division's Consumer Protection Branch. For those seniors, or their loved ones, who have been victims of financial fraud, the National Elder Fraud Hotline at 1-833-372-8311 offers resources and assistance.
