A 69-year-old man in the United States, dubbed "the worst boyfriend on the Upper East Side," has been accused of swindling more than $1.8 million from many women he met through dating apps.
Nelson Counne, a New Yorker, chatted with women, met them, trapped them in a web of deceit, and then used his relationships with them to extort money from them. By misrepresenting his true identity, he defrauded women of thousands of dollars and years of their lives.
One of the many victims of Nelson Counne stated that he lied to people about being a Vietnam War hero, an art dealer, and having cancer.
She told The New York Post, "I think he should be in jail for all of his life." "He robs women of their money, of their dignity."
According to the new outlet, the woman was 49 when she met Counne in August 2000 at the Upper East Side Italian restaurant Campagnola. She was healing from "quite a painful breakup" and was instantly intrigued by the "handsome" man.
"I was very attracted to him, he was very charming at first," she told The Post.
Counne fabricated nearly every aspect of his life, from dangling investment opportunities to lying that he received a Purple Heart for serving in Vietnam.
"He was absolutely a sweet talker," Kristie said. "He came up with this investment plan that if I gave him some money, he could give me back ten times that because he had this person allowing him to invest. And he wanted me to make money."
After some time, he defrauded her of $5000 in fraud.
Counne was arrested earlier this month and is now facing charges of stealing more than $1.8 million from five women as far back as 2012.