A Wake County woman, Michon Griffin, has been sentenced to serve two years after pleading guilty to charges connected with her involvement in a $2 million international romance fraud scheme. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office's official court documents, she played the role of a money mule, funneling ill-gotten gains to oversea coconspirators.
Griffin's activities placed her deeply in the machinery of financial deception that exploited love’s name - a scheme where criminals pretend to strike up relationships online to eventually manipulate victims into handing over their wealth. Over a span of two years, Griffin handled over $2 million, that she illicitly channeled into multiple bank accounts before converting into virtual currency to then quickly wire abroad. The 46-year-old was additionally mandated to pay restitution to the IRS for tax fraud, totaling $109,119.
The sentencing was the culmination of an investigation by the IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), that shed light on Griffin's receipt of substantial commissions from the scam. "Griffin received approximately $300,000 in commissions for her role in the fraud scheme, which she did not report as income on her 2021 individual income tax return Form 1040," highlighted in the findings presented in court. The case was overseen by U.S. District Judge Terrence W. Boyle, with Acting U.S. Attorney Daniel P. Bubar announcing the sentence, detailed by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Following her guilty plea on July 10, 2024, Griffin has been mandated to not only serve time but also undergo three years supervised release, as the government continues to aggressively pursue and bring to justice individuals involved in these types of malicious deceit. The sentencing reflects the ongoing efforts to combat the complex operations of online fraudsters, who often rely on individuals like Griffin to move and launder the proceeds of their crimes across international borders. It symbolizes a clear stance against those tempted to unduly profit from the vulnerabilities of others.
