Yesterday in federal court, a woman from Hawaii was sentenced for defrauding her husband’s Minnesota family out of more than $180,000. United States District Court Judge Joan N. Ericksen sentenced Laumatafiafia T. Rosetter, age 43, to 27 months in prison on one count of wire fraud in connection to this crime. Rosetter was indicted on April 6, 2010, and pleaded guilty on May 12, 2011.
In her plea agreement, Rosetter admitted that from 2005 through June 22, 2007, she carried out a scheme to defraud her in-laws, who live in Granite Falls. To that end, Rosetter sent the couple a series of e-mails under fictitious names, detailing an outrageous fabricated story about Wal-Mart hit men, a Mexican criminal gang, angry contractors, and the Samoan Mafia. The story incited fear in the couple, causing them to wire money to the e-mail sender, as directed.
In a May 18, 2007, e-mail, for example, Rosetter posed as “Uncle Mo,” a member of the Somoan Mafia, and demanded that the couple pay $164,000 or face “elimination.” As a result of this scheme, the Minnesota couple was defrauded out of more than $180,000. Rosetter admitted she received all but $15,000 of that amount, with the remainder going to her sister, who assisted in the scam.
