Heartless woman mocked Holocaust survivor after conning £2.2m in romance scam

A cruel woman who defrauded an elderly Holocaust survivor of his life savings has been thrown behind bars.

Peaches Stergo, 36, swindled the equivalent of around £2.2million out of the 87-year-old after meeting him on a dating website in the United States.

The evil woman used the money she pinched to live a “life of luxury”, reports the BBC, with the judge labelling her actions as “unspeakably cruel”.

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Stergo, who pleaded guilty earlier this year to wire fraud, was sentenced this week to 51 months in prison for her crimes.

US District Judge Edgardo Ramos also told the heartless fraudster, who’s from Florida, to pay back the equivalent of about £2.2m to her victim.

Prosecutors in New York said Stergo met the elderly man on a dating site six or seven years ago.

She began to borrow money to help her get funds from a legal settlement, but such a settlement never existed, according to prosecutors.

Stergo then kept asking him for more money, using the bogus story that if she didn’t deposit more funds into her account, it would be frozen and she’d never be able to pay him back.

Instead, she splashed the cash on buying a home in a gated community, staying in posh hotels, and buying designer clothing, a Corvette, Rolex watches and gold bars.

And while she "callously defrauded an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor who was simply looking for companionship" and was living the life of Riley, her victim lost his flat, the court was told.

The heartless woman also mocked him in texts she sent to her real lover.

In one message, she said the elderly man “loved her”, followed by “lol”.

She was also apparently aware of the cruel damage she’d caused him in the scam, because in another message she wrote that he was “broke” and he "don't have anything else to pawn".

The judge ordered Stergo to forfeit her home as well as more than 100 luxury items she’d bought with the money she’d conned.

After she pleaded guilty back in April, US Attorney Damian Williams said: “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.”

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