Look out for folks on relationship apps who supply funding alternatives too good to be true.
That is the message from the District Legal professional’s Workplace in New York Metropolis, which lately introduced expenses towards a mendacity Lothario they allege swindled his lovers out of tens of millions.
Nelson Counne, who additionally goes by “Nelson Roth” or “Justin Roth,” was indicted in a Manhattan court docket for bilking greater than $1.8 million from 5 girls by means of a sequence of romance and funding scams.
“He allegedly fed lie after mislead girls he falsely claimed to have a romantic curiosity in, attractive them with funding alternatives that by no means existed whereas utilizing their funds to repay previous victims, lure in new ones, and fund his way of life,” mentioned District Legal professional Alvin L. Bragg, Jr.
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Counne, 69, met most of his victims by way of on-line relationship websites, the place he posed as a rich retired artwork seller and investor with houses in London, Manhattan, and the South of France, in accordance with the indictment.
In actuality, Counne does not personal any houses and by no means travels internationally—he does not also have a passport. His sole supply of earnings was the cash he stole from his lovers between 2012 and 2021.
The rip-off labored like this: After successful his victims’ affection and belief, Counne satisfied a lot of them to speculate with him. He by no means shared any particulars of his enterprise dealing, claiming the investments had been in a “grey space between authorized and unlawful” and that he had entry to inside info.
A few of his phony investments included Alibaba and a start-up purportedly run by a former Google government, which would supply an internet lottery that potential school college students might pay to enter for an opportunity to win tuition protection.
“Many of the victims had been initially hesitant, however Counne endured till every agreed to speculate,” in accordance with a press launch by the Manhattan District Legal professional’s Workplace.
A Ponzi scheme
The DA alleges that Counne ran a traditional Ponzi scheme, utilizing the cash from one in all his marks to pay one other. This enabled him to look rich to new victims and repay earlier victims suspicious of his fraud.
Counne now faces expenses of scheme to defraud within the first diploma, grand larceny within the second diploma, and grand larceny within the third diploma.
Romance scams like this usually are not unusual. In 2021, some 24,000 victims reported shedding roughly $1 billion to romance scams, in accordance with the FBI.
