MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A 43-year-old woman from Hawaii was sentenced to 27 months in prison in Minneapolis Federal Court on Friday for defrauding her husband’s Minnesota family out of more than $180,000.
Laumatafiafia T. Rosetter was indicted on one count of wire fraud on April 6, 2011, in connection with the crime and pleaded guilty on May 12, 2011.
She admitted that from 2005 through June 22, 2007, she defrauded her in-laws, who live in Granite Falls, by sending them emails under fake names posing as Wal-Mart hit men, a Mexican criminal gang, angry contractors and a Samoan mafia who all threatened their safety. Out of fear for their safety, the couple wired her money.
In one email, Rosetter posed as a member of the Somaon mafia and demanded $164,000 or be killed. The couple was defrauded out of more than $180,000, $15,000 of which went to Rosetter’s sister, who helped in the scam.
Her sister, Vatauomalao Dorothea Tafaoa, 38 of Hawaii, was sentenced Friday to 18 months on a wire fraud charge.
