Two women have been charged with years of “romance schemes” to defraud some elderly men out of more than $7 million, Manhattan federal authorities claimed in a court filing.
According to a federal complaint filed in the Southern District of New York, the ladies, named Rosanna Lisa Stanley and Gina Guy, scammed at least 16 people out of millions of dollars in a conspiracy that lasted from 2009 to this year, when they were arrested.
According to a press release from the United States Attorney’s Office, Stanley and Guy were arrested on June 25 in North Miami Beach, Florida, and New York City, respectively.
According to the complaint, Stanley and Guy enticed their elderly victims into “purported romantic or close personal relationships through in-person meetings, phone calls, text messages, and an online dating platform.”
After gaining their victims’ trust, the women persuaded them to transfer their money “under pretenses,” claiming they needed it for things like bogus enterprises and organ transplants, according to authorities.
Both ladies are accused of money laundering, wire fraud, and conspiracy, according to authorities. Each charge carries a maximum prison term of 20 years.
“As stated, Rosanna Lisa Stanley and Gina Guy conned elderly victims who were merely seeking companionship. They reportedly exploited the millions of dollars in fraud earnings to live luxurious lives at the expense of their victims,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement. “As today’s arrests demonstrate, perpetrators of romance scams will be held to account for their crimes.”
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In one alleged case, prosecutors claim Stanley met with an “elderly male” victim who thought he was in an “exclusive, romantic relationship” with her. According to the complaint, Stanley regularly sought money for rent and other living expenses, which the victim provided.
The victim eventually provided Stanley with credentials for one of his credit cards, as well as the card itself, prompting Stanley to alter the account’s password and incur thousands of dollars in charges, according to authorities.
According to authorities, he also transferred Stanley thousands of dollars when she requested funds for a bogus catering business, including $220,000 that Stanley used to pay off loans for her yacht and fancy automobile.
Prosecutors claim Stanley tricked the victim out of at least $555,000.
In another alleged case, authorities claim Stanley defrauded another victim of at least $1,000,000 while purporting to be a psychic and telling the victim that his money was “tainted with bad influences.” Stanley allegedly assured the victim that she could “untaint” and “protect” his money and would eventually return it clean if he wired it to her.
According to authorities, Stanley gradually persuaded the victim to transfer her increasing amounts of money for her to assist him in achieving his “desired life.”
According to the complaint, Guy defrauded four elderly male victims of at least $908,000 by telling them she needed money for medical procedures such as kidney transplants but then “spent the money on non-medical personal expenses, including expensive meals, utilities, apartment rent, and luxury goods.”
She reportedly persuaded one of the victims to wire her $708,000 so that “she could help him move his money from his current bank to another bank that offered higher interest rates so that Victim-6 could maximize the returns on his funds on deposit,” according to the lawsuit.
Guy and Stanley induced another victim to wire them thousands of dollars because they intended to buy a dressmaking business in New York City and needed a loan, prosecutors said.
“Gina Guy and Rosanna Lisa Stanley allegedly took advantage of innocent individuals seeking companionship and exploited them for their benefit,” said James Smith, the FBI’s associate director in charge. “Collecting millions of dollars from their victims, the perpetrators allegedly gained and betrayed the trust of primarily elderly individuals to fund their luxury purchases” NBCNEWS stated.
It wasn’t immediately known whether Stanley and Guy were represented by lawyers. Attempts to contact the court to determine whether the defendants were represented were unsuccessful outside of normal business hours.