MIRAMAR, FLA. (WSVN) - A Broward County woman has pleaded guilty to conspiring to launder millions of dollars from American fraud victims, authorities said.
According to the United States Department of Justice, 30-year-old Cristine Petitfrere, of Miramar, admitted to using bank accounts to funnel proceeds from romance scams to a co-conspirator overseas.
Petitfrere reportedly kept a portion of the funds as a fee while transferring the rest abroad. Throughout the scheme, authorities said she laundered over $2.7 million and earned hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees.
Romance scams involve fraudsters creating fake online identities to deceive victims into financial exploitation. According to the DOJ, in 2023, Americans lost $1.14 billion to such scams, according to the Federal Trade Commission.
“Romance scams cause not only significant losses but also profound emotional harm to countless individuals,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton. “This prosecution underscores the department’s efforts to dismantle the criminal networks that exploit vulnerable Americans.”
Petitfrere is set to be sentenced in the Southern District of Florida on Dec. 11. She faces a maximum of 10 years in prison.
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