A social media influencer has pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining more than $1m in COVID-19 pandemic-related loans from the US government used to fund a lavish lifestyle which she flaunted on Instagram. Danielle Miller, a self-proclaimed con artist whose scams have been chronicled in a New York Magazine profile last year, appeared before a general judge in Boston by video from a prison cell to plead guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft charges.
The 33-year-old also agreed to forfeit $1. 3m (£1m) as part of a plea deal with prosecutors and serve six years in prison, 16 months of which could overlap with a five-year sentence she was handed in October in a separate Florida bank fraud case.
Miller has been accused by prosecutors of using the identities of more than 10 people to fraudulently set up bank accounts and obtain more than $1m (£831,450) in pandemic-related loans intended for small businesses.
She is said to have spent the money on travel and luxury items including a Rolex, a Louis Vuitton bag and Dior shoes, as well as posting photos on Instagram of herself at opulent hotels in California where she used a bank account in the name of one of her victims.