BOSTON – A Canton woman was sentenced today for her role in a fraud conspiracy involving romance scams and pandemic unemployment fraud.
Florence Mwende Musau, 38, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Allison D. Burroughs to 44 months in prison and 30 months of supervised release. Musau was also ordered to pay approximately $957,000 in restitution and to forfeit approximately $350,000 and a Lexus SUV. In 2021, Musau was charged with, and pleaded guilty to, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud.
Musau participated in a conspiracy involving romance scams and other online frauds designed to deceive victims into sending money to bank accounts controlled by her and others. Criminals perpetrating romance scams create fictitious profiles on online dating or social media websites, gain the trust of potential victims and then direct those victims to transfer money under false pretenses.
To further the conspiracy, Musau used fake passports in the names of numerous aliases to open bank accounts in and around Boston to receive the proceeds of the romance scams. Musau then executed large cash withdrawals from those accounts, generally structured in amounts less than $10,000, in an effort to evade detection and currency transaction reporting requirements. Musau also received the proceeds of fraudulent state pandemic unemployment assistance benefits in the names of victims. As part of the scheme, Musau used at least three different aliases to open nearly ten fraudulent…
