New Boston woman charged with wire fraud and money laundering in child modeling fraud case
Photographer charged in $4.6M child modeling fraud scheme
Chanice Marie Coyne, 46, was in court on Thursday under accusations of scamming a family out of $4.6 million in a child modeling scheme. In a federal indictment, there was a partial list of wire transfers ranging from $40,000 to $160,000.
NEW BOSTON, Mich. (FOX 2) - A New Boston woman is in federal court as she's accused of scamming a family out of millions of dollars.
By the numbers:
Chanice Marie Coyne, 46, was in court on Thursday under accusations of scamming a family out of $4.6 million in a child modeling scheme. In a federal indictment, there was a partial list of wire transfers ranging from $40,000 to $160,000.
Coyne said in court that the money was for advance fees associated with modeling events across the country for the victims' young daughter. But authorities say the girl never participated in a single modeling event.
The $4.6 million was obtained fraudulently, according to the indictment, and was largely used by Coyne for her own benefit, including significant expenditures by her for online gambling activity. Coyne now faces seven counts of wire fraud. She also faces five counts of money laundering.
"For each count, it’s up to a potential of 20 years imprisonment and a fine of up to $250 thousand dollars of twice the gross financial gain or loss."
The backstory:
Coyne is a photographer by trade, as she was the subject of a FOX 2 story in 2024 when she allegedly took a family's money and backed out of a Christmas photo shoot claiming Santa Claus had Mpox But as it turned out, Santa was perfectly fine.
That money was refunded by Coyne after FOX 2 contacted her.
Watch FOX 2 Detroit LIVE:
The Source: Information for this report is from the US Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Michigan and a previous FOX 2 report from 2024.