Canton Woman Pleads Guilty To Part In $4 Million Romance Scam

CANTON, MA — Former Canton resident and Kenyan native Florence Mwende Musau, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud in Boston federal court Monday.

Musau, 36, was part of a group who were using aliases to trick people into sending her money through online romance scams. As defined by the FBI, romance scams happen when a criminal adopts a fake online identity to gain a victim’s affection and trust, before manipulating them or tricking them into sending money.

In order to process the money, Musau opened multiple bank accounts under different names and used those accounts to also collect fraudulent pandemic unemployment assistance, and would withdraw thousands of dollars in cash each day, according to the District Attorney's office.

With the group of schemers collecting more than $4 million in total, Musau could be facing a sentence of up to 30 years in prison. The District Attorney's office says the remaining defendants are considered innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Sentencing for Musau has been scheduled for Octover 14, 2021 by U.S. District Court Judge Allison D. Burroughs.