This archive report was first published on 22 June 2021.
On March 25, 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice announced charges against six individuals, including Florence Mwende Musau, a 36-year-old Kenyan national, for their roles in online scams that collectively defrauded victims of more than $4 million.
Musau, who previously resided in Canton, MA, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
According to the charging documents, Musau participated in a series of romance scams designed to defraud victims into sending money to bank accounts controlled by her and others. She used fake passports in the names of numerous aliases to open bank accounts in and around Boston to collect and launder the proceeds of the romance scams.
As part of the scheme, Musau executed large cash withdrawals from those accounts, often multiple times on a single day and generally structured in amounts less than $10,000, in an effort to evade detection and currency transaction reporting requirements.
The charge of conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud provides for a sentence of up to 30 years in prison, five years of supervised release, a fine of up to $1 million or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater, restitution, and forfeiture.
U.S. District Court Judge Allison D. Burroughs scheduled sentencing for October 14, 2021.
