Florida woman swindles Holocaust survivor out of $2.8m in romance scam

• Published date: 27 January 2023

Stergo, 36, met the 87-year-old man on a dating website between 2016 and 2017. In early 2017, Stergo asked the victim to borrow money to pay her lawyer, who she claimed was refusing to release funds from an injury settlement – a lie, according to bank records that allegedly showed she never received settlement funds

"The defendant callously preyed on a senior citizen simply seeking companionship, defrauding him of his life savings," FBI Assistant Director Michael J. Driscoll said in the DOJ indictment.

The woman's scam against an elderly Holocaust survivor

From 2017 to 2021, Stergo continued her fraudulent behavior, asking the victim for bank deposits continuously and telling him that if payments did not continue, her account would be frozen and she would be unable to pay him back.

"The defendant callously preyed on a senior citizen simply seeking companionship, defrauding him of his life savings."

Michael J. Driscoll

Stergo was able to amass a fortune including a home in a gated community, a condominium, a boat, and numerous cars. The US Department of Justice further outlined her extravagant spending, with tens of thousands of dollars stolen from the victim...