Woman Who Allegedly Scammed Holocaust Survivor Out of Millions Previously Posed as Psychic

Published January 28, 2023 By admin with Comments 1

A FLORIDA WOMAN named Peaches Stergo was arrested Wednesday for allegedly defrauding an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor out of his life savings as part of a years-long romance scam, but it seems the $2.8 million payday was not her first rodeo. Around 2012, according to social media profiles located by Rolling Stone, it appears she tried her hand at that old standby, posing as a psychic. Perhaps she should have been able to foretell how cheating the survivor of one of the world’s greatest atrocities out of his nest egg could have turned out.

According to a federal indictment, Stergo was charged with one count of wire fraud after allegedly posing as a woman named “Alice” on a dating site and targeting an unnamed Manhattan resident, beginning in roughly 2014. In 2017, Stergo told the man she had won a lawsuit as a result of a car accident but had not yet received the funds because her lawyer required payment, according to the state. The man wrote her a check for $25,000 at her insistence, the indictment claims, even though she was not part of such a suit. Stergo allegedly told the man that she required more money or else the bank would freeze her account and she wouldn’t be able to pay him back. The indictment says that she also posed as a bank employee to facilitate the ruse. Stergo has not yet entered a plea.

Over the years, the man wrote Stergo 62 checks totaling $2.8 million, which she allegedly used to purchase several homes, cars, designer clothing, trips, and, curiously, gold and silver bars. Stergo’s alleged scheme came to an end in 2021 when the man confessed to his son that he had lost his life savings. Stergo could face 20 years in prison if she’s convicted.

Content retrieved from: https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/scammed-holocaust-survivor-peaches-stergo-psychic-1234668902/.