Massachusetts man, 85, loses $1M in alleged fake Brazil farmland romance scam

Detailed summary

An 85-year-old man sent over $1 million to a woman claiming she needed it for taxes and legal fees. Maria Auxiliadora Rezende allegedly fabricated a story concerning inherited…

An 85-year-old man from Massachusetts who had health and memory problems sent more than $1 million to a woman he was dating. She allegedly told him she needed the money to pay taxes and legal fees on farmland she was expected to inherit in Brazil, federal prosecutors say. According to the US Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts, the farmland, inheritance tax and lawyers did not exist. Maria Auxiliadora Rezende, 66, of Revere, Massachusetts, has been indicted by a federal grand jury on one count of wire fraud. Federal agents arrested her and charged her through a criminal complaint on 10 November 2026.

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