Woman sentenced for role in international romance scam, will spend 2 years in prison
By WRAL staff
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WAKE COUNTY, North Carolina (WRAL) — A Wake County woman on Tuesday was sentenced to two years in prison after prosecutors said she was involved in a $2 million romance scam.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Michon Griffin, 46, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering and making false statements on her tax returns. Prosecutors said Griffin was a money mule or “middleman” to defraud multiple people in an international romance fraud scheme.
A romance scam is an internet-enabled fraud scheme that happens when one or multiple people adopt a fake identity to gain the victim’s affection and trust. The fraudster then uses the illusion of a romantic relationship to manipulate and exploit the victim for financial gain by stealing money across international borders, occasionally relying on money mules to move the gains of their illegal activity.
In court documents, prosecutors said Griffin received over $2 million from the international romance scheme that she then deposited into fake bank accounts that she controlled across 16 financial institutions.
Griffin then converted the money into financial currency and wired the money to overseas accounts controlled by her coconspirators in Nigeria.
Prosecutors said Griffin received $300,000 in commissions for her role in the scheme, which she failed to report on her 2021 tax returns.
Griffin was sentenced to two years in prison and will be supervised once released for three years. She was also ordered to pay $109,119 in restitution to the IRS.
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