A 36-year-old Kenyan National living in Boston in the US pleaded guilty to being part of a fraud conspiracy involving romance scams.

Florence Mwende Musau pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud namely wire and bank fraud before US District Court Judge Allison Burrows.

Mwende and five other accomplices were arraigned in court on March 25, 2021 and were charged in connection with the alleged roles they collectively played in defrauding victims of over $4 million (Sh. 431,160,000).

Court documents in the case indicate that Musau participated in a series of romance scams designed to defraud victims into sending money to bank accounts controlled by her and the others.

Mwende allegedly used fake passports bearing names of multiple aliases to open bank accounts within and without Boston for collection and laundering of the proceeds of their romance scams.

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To avoid detection and currency transaction reporting requirements, Mwende withdrew large cash amounts multiple times a day in $10,000 and below batches.

In the US, the conspiracy to commit wire and fraud charge attract a sentence of up to 30 years in prison, five years of supervised release, a fine of up to $1 million or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater, restitution, and forfeiture.