A Saipan woman has been sentenced to 71 months in prison for orchestrating a $769,000 bitcoin wire fraud scheme that targeted older victims through false investment claims.
Sze Man Yu Inos, also known as Yuki, was sentenced by Ramona V. Manglona in the U.S. District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands after being convicted of wire fraud.
“Criminals engaged in affinity fraud prey on our willingness to trust others,”
Said Shawn N. Anderson.
Prosecutors said Inos targeted older women in Saipan and Guam between 2020 and 2022, building trust through personal relationships, gifts and false claims of wealth before soliciting money and bitcoin investments.
The court ordered $769,355.67 in restitution alongside three years of supervised release, 100 hours of community service and additional financial penalties, and following the announcement there was no market impact.
Authorities said the scheme later expanded to victims in Washington and California, with the Federal Bureau of Investigation also alleging she forged a federal judge’s signature to support the fraud.
Prosecutors said the case underscores the risks of affinity fraud, where personal trust is exploited to facilitate financial scams across multiple jurisdictions.
At the time of reporting, Bitcoin price was $77,040.64.