‘Influencer’ admits fraud of a million dollars in loans for the pandemic in the US.

A social media leader, or “influencer,” and self-proclaimed con artist pleaded guilty Monday to fraudulently obtaining more than $1 million in US government loans related to the COVID-19 pandemic, which she used to finance a lavish style of life that he flaunted on Instagram.

Danielle Miller, whose scams in this and other cases were chronicled in a New York Magazine profile last year, appeared before a federal judge in Boston via video from a jail cell to plead guilty to charges of wire fraud and theft of aggravated identity.

As part of a plea bargain, the 33-year-old defendant agreed to forfeit $1.3 million and serve six years in prison, 16 of which could overlap with a five-year sentence she received in October at another Florida bank fraud case. Her sentencing was set for June 27.

According to the indictment, Miller used the identities of more than 10 people to fraudulently open bank accounts and obtain more than $1 million in pandemic-related loans for small businesses.

She used this money for travel and luxury purchases, including a Rolex, a Louis Vuitton bag and Dior shoes, and posted photos on Instagram of herself at luxury hotels in California, where she used a bank account in the name of one of her victims.

Originally from New York, Miller is the daughter of a former president of the New York State Bar Association and is a graduate of the prestigious Horace Mann School. She was already facing charges in the separate fraud case in Florida state court when she was arrested in May 2021 at a luxury Miami apartment where she had moved during the pandemic.

“Honestly, I consider myself more of a scammer than anything else.”, the New York Magazine article quotes Miller as saying.

More than 1,000 people have been convicted of defrauding COVID-19 relief programs, the US Government Accountability Office reported last month. The White House reported last week that President Joe Biden plans to ask Congress for $1.6 billion in new funding to crack down on program-related fraud.

Source: Reuters