- Popular social media influencer Danielle Miller admitted guilt in a COVID-19 aid fraud scheme in March.
- The court subsequently commanded her to surrender multiple posh items acquired with the illicit funds.
- Miller faces accusations of three counts of wire fraud, each carrying a potential jail term of up to two decades.
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Danielle Miller, a 32-year-old influencer, confessed to fraudulently securing $1.5 million in COVID-19 relief loans in March. The illicit money sponsored her excessive lifestyle, including purchasing high-end designer goods, hiring private jets, and leasing a plush apartment.
As per a Notice of Forfeiture shared on Monday, the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts has subsequently demanded that she renounces some of these plush items. These include a Rolex watch, a Louis Vuitton bag, several pieces of Rimowa luggage, among others.
Miller, with an impressive follower base of over 34,000 on Instagram, was apprehended in May 2021 and formally indicted by a grand jury a few months later. On March 6, she admitted guilt to three instances of wire fraud and two of aggravated identity theft.
Based on an official statement from the Department of Justice, the ploy involved her impersonating over ten individuals spanning July 2020 to May 2021 to garner $1.5 million through Economic Injury Disaster Loans. This executive relief loan, designated for supporting small businesses facing difficulties. The statement affirmed that she fabricated business names and manufactured false driver’s licenses to facilitate the fraud.
The federal government has since confiscated over $600,000 from Miller’s domestic quarters and banking facilities, as acknowledged by the Notice of Forfeiture. The influencer has also been commanded to forfeit the following glamorous items that she procured under the loan money: a Louis Vuitton bag, a Rolex watch, a pair of Dior shoes and a Dior blouse, and a couple of Rimowa suitcases.
In a previous interview with New York Magazine early last year, Miller seemingly glorified her questionable ventures. She contended her identity to be more of a “con artist than anything” and freely revealed insights about how she spent the illegally obtained money on displaying a lavish way of life on her Instagram profile, which included photo captures of herself posing next to opulent vehicles and carrying pricy handbags.
Prior to this, Miller already endured a stint at Rikers Island, home to New York City’s most comprehensive incarceration facility, for exploiting stolen credit card data to book appointments at a spa located on the Upper West Side. During this period, as per the magazine, she crossed paths with Anna Sorokin, the infamous swindler also recognizably known as Anna Delvey. Sorokin’s conspicuous acts of deception are the inspiration behind the Netflix series “Inventing Anna.”
Before her latest COVID-19 fraud news broke out, Miller was one of the initial victims of viral revenge porn on the internet. At a tender age of 13 years old, Miller grappled with the notoriety of the “Swiffer Girl”. Later as an adult, she admittedly struggled to overcome the stigma attached to her due to this incident. Miller’s fascinating journey was extensively portrayed in an episode of the Hulu docuseries “The Age of Influence” launched earlier this year.
Miller confessed guilt to three instances of wire fraud, each liable to, at most, 20 years of imprisonment; she is also facing two obstacles of severe identity theft, each mandating a compulsory two-year jail term following the imposition of other sentences.
When addressed, Miller’s legal counsel, Mitchell Elman, declined to issue any comments on the case until the sentencing date, allegedly scheduled for September 7.
At present, Miller is abiding by a five-year sentencing term for an unconnected bank fraud case in Florida. This case was established on charges of her attempt to utilize a counterfeit passport to draw money from a Chase drive-through window in 2020.
