A Kenyan national living in the US was sentenced to a fine and jail time for her part in orchestrating pandemic unemployment fraud and romantic frauds.
A US judge gave Florence Mwende Musau, 38, a 44-month prison term. Musau was also forced to forfeit almost $350,000 and a Lexus SUV in addition to paying the victims about $1m (£810,000) in reparations.
Musau was accused in 2021 along with five other people for their roles in the online frauds that cost the victims a total of $4 million.
The group allegedly opened bank accounts in and around Boston to collect and launder the earnings of the romance scams using phony passports and many names.
“Musau also received the proceeds of fraudulent state pandemic unemployment assistance benefits in the names of victims,” the US Attorney’s Office said.
“As part of the scheme, Musau used at least three different aliases to open nearly 10 fraudulent bank accounts and receive approximately $1m in fraud proceeds,” a statement added.
