A woman accused of swindling a frail Holocaust survivor out of his USD 2.8 million life savings in a fake romance scam has been seized by the FBI.

Suspect Peaches Stergo is said to have duped the 87-year-old in a “years-long scheme” to woo and cheat him.

The pair first met on a dating website about seven years ago and Stergo, 36, immediately began siphoning off vast sums of cash.

After telling her victim she needed a loan while she waited for a personal injury settlement, she systematically worked her way through his fortune, say prosecutors.

She spent fortunes on designer brands like Rolex, Hermes and Louis Vuitton, as well as buying gold and living the VIP life at five-star hotels.

By creating fake email accounts and invoices and posing as bank officials, she managed to get her hands on enough cash to buy a luxury home in Florida.

Meanwhile, her victim was so broke he had to move out of his apartment.

Newsflash obtained a statement from the US Attorney’s Office on Wednesday, 25th January, saying that Stergo engaged “in a years-long scheme to defraud an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor of his life savings”.

Manhattan Attorney Damian Williams said Stergo “maliciously” drained her victim’s life savings.

He said in a statement obtained by Newsflash: “As alleged, for years, Stergo deceived an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor, maliciously draining his life savings so she could become a millionaire through fraud.

“Stergo forged documents and impersonated a bank employee in exchange for a life of fancy trips, Rolex watches, and luxury purchases.”

FBI New York assistant director in charge Michael Driscoll said: “Today we allege the defendant callously preyed on a senior citizen simply seeking companionship, defrauding him of his life savings.”

The indictment against Stergo revealed on 25th January said: “The Victim wrote almost monthly checks to Stergo, often in increments of USD 50,000.

“After each check was deposited, Stergo told the Victim that her bank needed more money, otherwise the accounts would be frozen, and the Victim would never be paid back.

“The Victim continued to write checks because he was afraid he would never see his money again. In total, the Victim wrote 62 checks — totaling over USD 2.8 million — that were deposited into one of two accounts controlled by Stergo.”

It continues: “Stergo created fake letters from a TD Bank employee, which falsely claimed her account had a hold which would only be lifted if many tens of thousands of dollars were deposited into her account.

“Stergo also created fake invoices for the Victim to provide to his bank after the bank began questioning the large and repeated transfers of money to Stergo.”

Federal prosecutors say the scam came crashing down in October 2021, when the victim told his son that he had given his life savings to Stergo.

The indictment says: “After that, the Victim stopped writing checks to Stergo.”

Stergo – though – lived like a VIP on her victim’s money, says the indictment.

It states: “She has lived a life of luxury with the millions she received from the fraud: she bought a home in a gated community, a condominium, a boat, and numerous cars, including a Corvette and a Suburban.”

It continues: “During the course of the fraud, Stergo also took expensive trips, staying at places like the Ritz Carlton, and spent many tens of thousands of dollars on expensive meals, gold coins and bars, jewelry, Rolex watches, and designer clothing from stores like Tiffany, Ralph Lauren, Neiman Marcus, Louis Vuitton, and Hermes.”

Prosecutors want Stergo to forfeit all that money and those luxury items.

Stergo, of Champions Gate, Florida, was charged with one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.