NY fraudster posed as Saudi princess

NEW YORK: A New York woman who posed in high-society circles as a Saudi princess pleaded guilty on Tuesday to grand larceny and insurance fraud and was ordered to a mental hospital.


Antoinette Millard, 42, used a special credit card to spend nearly $US1million ($NZ1.4m) during a three-month shopping spree. She also cheated an insurance company of more than a quarter of a million dollars.

As part of her plea deal, Millard will spend one year at an in-patient psychiatric facility where she will receive intensive psychiatric treatment.

"If you woefully fail to abide by the treatment, you'll get a year in jail," Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Renee White told Millard.

At high-society events with celebrities and socialites, Millard introduced herself as "Princess Antoinette" and said she was also a former Victoria's Secret model.

In reality, Millard was a former vice president of the investment banking firm of Brown Brothers Harriman. She scammed Chubb Insurance in 2003, claiming US$262,000 worth of jewellery she was carrying was stolen when she was mugged on Madison Avenue in New York City.

She also spent US$950,000 using a no-limit "Centurion" card sent to her by American Express. --