MIRAMAR, Fla. – A 30-year-old Miramar woman could spend up to a decade in prison for laundering millions of dollars from American victims on behalf of an African romance scammer, prosecutors said.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Cristine Petitfrere pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering on Wednesday.
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According to court documents, Petitfrere, who ran an LLC called GlamGoddessArtistry, wired more than $2.7 million of victims’ money to an unnamed co-conspirator in Ghana in exchange for a cut of the funds — “hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
The victims, seniors in their late 60s and early 70s, lived in Arizona, Indiana and Virginia.
“Romance scams involve fraudsters creating fake online personas to gain the trust and affection of victims, ultimately leading to financial exploitation,” a DOJ news release states. “These schemes not only cause significant financial losses, but also deeply impact the lives of victims, many of whom are elderly. Americans lost $1.14 billion to romance scams in 2023, according to Federal Trade Commission data.”
Petitfrere is scheduled to be sentenced in federal court on Dec. 11.
Senior fraud victims or their loved ones are asked to call the National Elder Fraud Hotline 1-833-372-8311 for assistance.