A Hermes-toting Michigan woman flaunted herself as being the picture of success while driving around in a Bentley, but prosecutors claim it was all a phony facade.
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it → tot → Bentley
Shannon Monet Steel is accused of duping a number of victims into handing over hundreds of thousands of dollars after giving them false information.
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Steel → accuse → information
The 42-year-old told one investor she kept her nine-figure fortune in her own private bank and that she was an Ambassador to the Central African Republic.
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she → tell → Republic
But federal prosecutors say Steel's wealth was all a lie – and she faces charges of conning investors of over $1 million by falsely portraying herself as a successful businesswoman.
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she → say → businesswoman
She was hit with a single count of wire fraud early last month and faces up to 20 years behind bars if convicted, with prosecutors warning that more charges could be on the way.
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charges → hit → way
Since her arrest last month, prosecutors have filed documents in her case revealing what they say is a spending spree in the hopes of convincing a judge to freeze her assets.
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they → file → assets
According to prosecutors, the spree ranged from small amounts on groceries, to buying a Bentley Continental, leasing a Maserati and globetrotting.
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spree → accord → Maserati
That same white Bentley was later featured in a Facebook video of her jumping out of it clutching an orange Hermes bag, worth $12,800, while speaking to a group of young girls at a nonprofit for inner city children.
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her → feature → children
Alongside their motion, they added images captured of Steel behind the wheel of the vehicle while under FBI surveillance and the Maserati inside her rental home, for which she spent $56,000 on renting, wire transfers show.
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transfers → add → renting
Shannon Monet Steel is accused of duping a number of victims into handing over hundreds of thousands of dollars after giving them false information
According to prosecutors, the spree ranged from small amounts on groceries, to buying a Bentley Continental, seen here under federal surveillance, leasing a Maserati and globetrotting
Prosecutors said she also bought plane tickets to Paris and Los Angeles late last year as part of her expenditure as they asked the judge to agree to the motion.
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they → accuse → motion
The request said: 'Shannon Steel has defrauded numerous victims out of at least $1.05 million.
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Steel → say → million
She is now using victim assets to pay her credit card and rent - funds that could otherwise be forfeited and used for restitution.
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that → use → restitution
Steel has fooled at least eight victims with the lure of millions of dollars in loans, before pocketing the good faith escrow funds of her victims.'
In the hopes of having the motion agreed to, prosecutors added her American Express statements to their motion.
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prosecutors → fool → motion
Those statements detailed her spending in the months leading up to her arrest last month.
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statements → detail → arrest
Over the course of three weeks in November and December last year she splashed out $3,500 on flights to Los Angeles and Paris.
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she → splash → Angeles
She also spent $752 on Lyft taxis, $195 on having her nails done, and $420 on numerous trips to a spa facility near her home in Farmington Hills, Michigan.
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nails → spend → Hills
Other costs included money on takeout food, $3,000 being paid to a law firm and several tabs at a speakeasy in Michigan.
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costs → include → Michigan
Bentley is seen clutching an orange Hermes bag, worth $12,800, before speaking to a group of young girls at a nonprofit for inner city children.
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Bentley → see → children
The Maserati that Steel is alleged to have been leasing at the time of the investigation is seen here
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Steel → allege → investigation
Prosecutors have already obtained an injunction which saw three of her assets being frozen, including the Bentley and Maserati.
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three → obtain → Bentley
That injunction also saw that three dozen companies linked to her, her bank accounts, some of her jewelry and other items were also frozen.
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companies → see → jewelry
Papers filed for the freeze of her assets pointed to the potential of further charges being brought against her.
Prosecutors said the alleged scheme also amounted to concealment of money laundering and engaging in transactions related to criminally derived property.
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scheme → file → property
Additional charges have yet to be filed against her relating to those allegations.
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charges → have → allegations
The complaint against Steel claimed she used a phony letter from Deutsche Bank to claim that she held an account with around $350 million in it to swindle money from a California-based entrepreneur.
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she → claim → entrepreneur
Investigators at Deutsche probed the letter and later told investigators that it was a fake, the complaint said.
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complaint → probe → investigators
Prosecutors allege in the criminal complaint that it was part of a scheme by Steel to present herself as being credible.
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it → allege → herself
Steel is seen here alongside the Mayor of Washington DC Muriel Bowser
The ORIGINAL complaint highlighted a series of posts to her Facebook and Instagram page, which have since been deleted, in which she addressed herself as Ambassador Steel
Another alleged victim of hers in Ohio handed over $250,000 last November as part of the process to get a $5.4 million loan from her bank, which they never got.
That same month, another investor trying to buy and renovate a commercial space in Texas handed over $350,000 to secure a $5 million loan, prosecutors said.
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prosecutors → see → loan
Again, it is alleged that the individual never received the loan.
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individual → allege → loan
As part of the latest motion, investigators said that after getting the money Steel wired $18,100 to her personal savings account at American Express, which she then used to fund her lifestyle.
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she → say → lifestyle
The original complaint also painted Steel as being a serial fabricator who used her social media and YouTube to falsely give the impression of being a successful businesswoman.
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who → paint → impression
Such lies, the complaint claimed, saw her managing to be given a Lifetime President Achievement Award by President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
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her → claim → Biden
That award was set up to honor Americans who dedicated over 4,000 hours of volunteering.
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who → set → volunteering
Steel is said to have lied about completing those volunteer hours to further enhance her image.
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Steel → say → image
Steel is seen in an image shared to her website with former President of Namibia Hage Geingob
Steel is seen shaking hands with Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (right) in a post that Steel shared to LinkedIn
Records seen by the Daily Mail indicate that Steel has a history of bankruptcy and unemployment.
In 2014 she filed for bankruptcy saying that she was unemployed, had a small amount of money in her checking account and was due over $18,800 to creditors.
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she → see → creditors
She also currently lives at home with her mother in a comfortable but modest $500,000 home in a quiet suburb, that sits close to a McDonald's, according to public records.
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that → live → records
And while Steel's own website painted her as an Ambassador to the Central African Republic, federal prosecutors said she was never a diplomat.
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she → paint → Republic
Images posted on her site include images of her with former Namibian President Hage Geingob, it is unclear when these pictures were taken.
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pictures → post → Geingob
The complaint highlighted a series of posts to her Facebook and Instagram page, which have since been deleted, in which she addressed herself as Ambassador Steel.
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she → highlight → Steel
Quoting her posts, the complaint said she had posted on Instagram saying: 'I was just sworn in as Ambassador for Central African Republic to the United States.'
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I → quote → States
A post to her Facebook page continued the charade, the complaint claimed, saying she posted: 'I put a whole country on my back #AMBASSADOR STEEL.'
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I → continue → STEEL
…and 3 more, not listed.
The Aporia
