Federal prosecutors in Manhattan say two “ruthless” prostitutes scammed at least 16 lonely elderly people out of more than $7 million in a long-running romance scam.
Prosecutors allege that Rosanna Lisa Stanley and Gina Guy lured “elderly” victims with phony kidney and liver transplant schemes, then paid the con artists large sums in bogus business investments.
Authorities say the romance scams had been operating since at least 2009 until the two men were arrested last month.
According to court documents, the killers lured their victims “in person, over the phone, through text messages and via online dating platforms.”
Authorities said the fake fortune teller told the victims’ money was “tainted with evil influences” and threatened to clean it and return it to one of the women who had handed over more than $1 million to Stanley, 48.
According to prosecutors, between 2009 and 2020, the victims sent wire transfers and checks to Stanley’s purported Manhattan astrology business, promising to help him “get the life he wanted.”
The other victim, who fell for Stanley when they met in Manhattan in February 2023, believed she was in an “exclusive romantic relationship” with him, according to court records.
The unconscious elderly man ended up paying Stanley’s rent and living expenses and, at her request, gave her online banking credentials for certain credit cards, which he then handed over to her.
Stanley allegedly changed the victim’s password and then refused to share it. Court documents list “thousands of dollars in expenses,” and she also tricked her victims into paying a fake catering company in Florida, federal agents said.
In total, Stanley defrauded elderly people out of at least $555,000, including $220,000 he used to pay off loans on boats and luxury cars, according to court documents, which did not provide details of the vehicles.
Guy, 37, is accused of playing on at least four men’s hearts and conning them out of more than $900,000 by repeatedly claiming she needed the money for a kidney transplant, prosecutors said.
Public records show Stanley has addresses on the Upper East Side, New Jersey and Florida, and was arrested June 25 in Miami Beach. The two women were arrested in New York on the same day, according to Manhattan federal court documents. They are charged with money laundering, wire fraud and conspiracy.
The women were each released on $250,000 bail. The case is pending.
“Rosanna Lisa Stanley and Gina Guy callously defrauded elderly victims who were simply looking for companionship. They allegedly used the millions of dollars they obtained from their fraudulent schemes to live lavish lifestyles at the expense of their victims,” U.S. Attorney Damien Williams for the Southern District of New York said in a statement.
