Women Accused of Scamming $7 Million From ‘Lonely’ Men in ‘Romance Schemes'

Two women are accused of defrauding “lonely,” elderly male victims of more than $7 million in a series of “romance schemes” between 2009 and 2024, according to a complaint filed by federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York.

Rosanna Lisa Stanley, 48, and Lisa Guy, 37, were arrested on June 25 in Florida and New York, respectively, on charges of money laundering, wire fraud, and conspiracy. They are accused of luring at least 16 elderly victims “into purported romantic or close personal relationships through in-person meetings, phone calls, text messages, and an online dating platform,” the complaint reads.

Stanley is accused of extorting $555,000 from one victim through various misrepresentations, including requests for money to aid an erroneous catering business. At one point, the victim gave Stanley a credit card and access to the card’s online account. Stanley allegedly changed the account’s passwords and would not provide the victim with the updated information, making thousands of dollars in purchases on the card.

Stanley also allegedly used $220,000 wired to her by the victim for the catering business to pay off her boat and luxury car.

Authorities similarly claim that from 2009 until 2021, Stanley defrauded another victim of “at least approximately $1 million” by pretending to be a psychic. She allegedly told the victim that his money was “tainted with bad influences” and convinced him to wire funds to her so that she could “untaint” [sic] and “protect” his finances. However, Stanley never returned any of the victim's money.

Both women allegedly used versions of the catering business scam to gain money from various victims, all of whom were elderly men. Though records indicate a catering company was incorporated in 2023, there’s no evidence to suggest that it ever operated “as a legitimate business, either online, through a brick-and-mortar establishment, or through any other means,” according to the complaint.

In 2020, Guy told another victim that she urgently needed $61,000 for a kidney transplant. She “subsequently spent the money on non-medical personal expenses, including expensive meals, utilities, apartment rent, and luxury goods,” the complaint claims. She allegedly repeated the kidney transplant story to extort over $100,000 from three other victims.

“As alleged, Rosanna Lisa Stanley and Gina Guy callously defrauded elderly victims who were simply looking for companionship,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement . “They allegedly used the millions of dollars in fraud proceeds to lead lives of luxury at their victims' expense. As [these] arrests demonstrate, perpetrators of romance scams will be held to account for their crimes.”

Both Stanley and Guy are charged with one count of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, one count of money laundering, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.