Woman scammed more than $400,000 from man she met on dating site

A Montgomery County jury has convicted a 72-year-old woman of defrauding a Silver Spring man of more than $400,000 by grooming him over years and then spending the money at casinos and on an Italian sports car.

Janey Sears of Washington was found guilty Tuesday in Circuit Court of securities fraud, misappropriation of funds by a fiduciary and other charges, the county state’s attorney’s office said in a statement Wednesday.

Sears, whose aliases include Janay St. Clair and JaNay St. Clair-Sears, faces up to 23 years in prison. Her sentencing hearing is scheduled for Aug. 28.

“The defendant groomed the victim, gaining his trust, and deceived him into believing she was acting in his best interest,” Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy said in a statement. “We are grateful that the jury saw through the defendant’s web of lies and that justice will be served.”

He said the prosecution will seek a prison term for Sears and restitution for the victim at the sentencing hearing.

Sears’ attorney could not be reached for comment Wednesday afternoon.

In total, she conned $406,954 from the man, a federal worker who was in his 50s when they met through an online dating site in September 2019.

The scam

The deception began early in their relationship, prosecutors said. Sears falsely presented herself as a Harvard-educated businesswoman who owned a D.C.-based transportation logistics company.

She suggested shortly after they met that she stay at the victim’s home because it would be convenient for her to get to Baltimore the next morning for a meeting. He agreed and Sears moved into his home in late 2019, prosecutors said.

The victim allowed her to help him secure a home equity line of credit loan for $150,000 in May 2020. A little more than a year later, Sears told the man she had a financial opportunity for him.

She encouraged him to contribute to an “investment pool” to purchase Pfizer stock. Sears promised him the investment would help him become financially independent and told him the opportunity was usually reserved for “wealthy individuals such as herself,” prosecutors said.

From August 2021 to May 2023, the man gave Sears contributions in checks, wire transfers and cash.

“In reality, Sears deposited all of these funds into her personal accounts,” prosecutors said.

She spent $55,000 of his money on a 2022 Alfa Romeo Giulia, though she told the victim her father gave her the car. Prosecutors said Sears also gambled and lost more than $100,000 at casinos.