A Dorchester woman who pretended to be a member of the Hell’s Angels was charged Friday with allegedly stealing more than $30,000 from a man who thought he was contacting an escort service, law enforcement officials said.
Tiana Serrano, 31, was charged with one count of larceny in excess of $1,200 by false pretense in Dorchester Municipal Court, Suffolk District Attorney Kevin R. Hayden’s office said in a statement.
A plea of not guilty was entered on her behalf, court records show.
Serrano was ordered held in lieu of posting a $1,000 cash bail. She was also ordered to avoid contact with the alleged victim, records said.
Her next court date is Jan. 22.
Serrano’s attorney could not immediately be reached for comment Friday evening.
On Aug. 29, the alleged victim, a 30-year-old man, texted a number on an escort website, the DA’s statement said.
He did not receive a response or meet with anyone, officials said.
A few days later, the man began to receive texts from an unknown phone number. That person claimed to be Jeff Wolf of the Hell’s Angels, the statement said.
The motorcycle group is known for its alleged involvement in drug and firearm trafficking, and murder, according to the US Department of Justice.
The unknown sender named the man’s Social Security information and family members and demanded money from him as a supposed debt from the escort site, the DA’s office said.
The man, fearing for his safety and his family’s safety, made more than a dozen payments to the sender, the statement said.
Over a 12 day period in September, he sent $34,000 to a Zelle account and Chase Bank account, both in Serrano’s name, according to officials.
After each deposit, the money was moved out of the account to multiple smaller accounts, officials said. Police said the activity was consistent with money layering: the second stage of money laundering.
Individuals use “money mule” accounts to “receive and move stolen funds by individuals or a fraud network,” the statement said.
Officials said Serrano went to numerous ATMs in Boston to withdrawfrom the accounts and also transferred thousands of dollars to a CashApp account in her name.
A search warrant for the Chase account showed that it was opened under Serrano’s name, date of birth, Massachusetts license, and home address, Hayden’s office said.
Madyline Swearing can be reached at madyline.swearing@globe.com.