PROVIDENCE, RI – In a significant legal development, Syretta Scherer, a 42-year-old from Snellville, GA, has been sentenced to nearly four years in federal prison for her involvement in a sophisticated romance scam that defrauded seniors across several states, including Rhode Island, out of approximately $5.8 million. United States Attorney Zachary A. Cunha announced that Scherer, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering on April 28, 2023, received her sentence from U.S. District Court Chief Judge John J. McConnell, Jr., on March 7, 2024. Following her incarceration, Scherer will be under two years of federal supervised release.
The court highlighted Scherer’s role in laundering close to $1.1 million of the nearly $3 million total laundered by the conspiracy, with the majority of stolen funds coming from widowed victims deceived through online romance scams. These scams involved cultivating relationships of trust with victims through app-based communications and persuading them that funds were needed for various fabricated reasons, including serious medical issues. Victims were directed to send money via mail or wire transfer, which was then funneled through accounts controlled by Scherer and her co-conspirators.
Scherer’s fraudulent operations included the creation of a fictitious company, Precise Carriers, through which she opened numerous bank accounts to facilitate the laundering process. From February 2018 to November 2019, she engaged in structured transactions across multiple bank branches to evade detection and continue her illegal activities, even recruiting acquaintances to open additional accounts to further her scheme. This sentencing marks a crucial step in addressing the exploitation of vulnerable seniors through internet-based scams.