A Michigan woman who plastered photos of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris next to her name in 2024 has been arrested and charged with wire fraud after federal prosecutors say she posed as an ambassador, a private banker, and a successful hotel owner to steal more than $1 million from victims.
Shannon Monet Steel, 42, of Farmington Hills, was arrested by the FBI and made her first appearance in federal court in Detroit on September 1, 2026.
She is charged with wire fraud. She was released on a $10,000 unsecured bond. Wire fraud carries a maximum of 20 years in federal prison.
According to the New York Post, which reviewed court filings first reported by the Detroit News, Steel targeted at least eight victims between 2022 and 2026 and pocketed at least $1.05 million in so-called “good faith” escrow money. Prosecutors say she promised victims millions in loans from a bank that does not exist, then kept the cash.
The lies were not subtle.
Steel publicly billed herself as an appointed ambassador of the Central African Republic to the United States and as “Ambassador to the First Lady” of that country.
On her foundation website, she wrote that she was “the newly appointed Ambassador for the First Lady of C.A.R. NGO on a mission to eradicate poverty.” Investigators say she is not an accredited diplomat of any country to the United States.
