Scammer, 70, dubbed ‘worst boyfriend’ appears in court accused of conning FIVE women out $1.8million | #ukscams | #datingscams | #european


  • Nelson Counne, 70, is accused of meeting women in lavish bars in Manhattan and on dating apps before scamming them
  • He appeared in court Monday to get released from jail on his own recognizance, but a judge denied this and deemed him to be a flight risk
  • Counne bragged he was a wealthy art collector and investor and lived in a mega-mansion close to Central Park

A ‘scammer’ accused of conning at least five Manhattan women out of more than $1.8million after meeting them on dating sites appeared in court to try and get released from jail – but a judge denied his claim. 

Nelson Counne, 70, appeared in Manhattan Supreme Court Monday as he faces two counts of second-degree grand larceny, third-degree grand larceny and fraud.

He requested to be released on his own recognizance but Judge Gregory Carro deemed him to be a flight risk.

Counne, who pleaded not guilty, is being held on $150,000 cash bail or a bond of up to $350,000. 

He was previously unmasked as a conman by a piece in the New Yorker – which branded him as ‘the worst boyfriend on the Upper East Side.’ 

Nelson Counne, 70, is accused of conning at least five Manhattan women out of more than $1.8million after meeting them on dating sites
He appeared in Manhattan Supreme Court Monday to get released from jail on his own recognizance, but a judge denied this and deemed him to be a flight risk
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said that the incidents date to 2012, but he was only arrested on March 13 this year and has denied the allegations against him

Counne told women he was a wealthy art collector and investor before allegedly scamming them into making hefty investments in his fake companies. 

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said the incidents date to 2012, but Counne was only arrested on March 13 this year and has denied the allegations.  

The suspected con artist would meet women on Our Time, which catered to an older clientele, before bragging about his homes in London, Florida and Saint-Tropez, as well as a huge mega-mansion apartment close to Central Park – 35 East 63rd Street.

He used the alias ‘Nelson’ or ‘Justin Roth’ in his schemes, telling women that he claimed he had access to the Alibaba Group and a fake start-up company Counne said he co-owned with a former Google executive.

Soon into the new relationships he would start pitching women investment opportunities, with some claiming to the New Yorker that he would also steal their jewelry to gift to his new love interests.

Kristie, who did not want to share her last name with the media, was previously conned out of $5,000 by Counne and wasted a year of her life when she met him at the Upper East Side Italian restaurant Campagnola in 2000.

She was not part of the five women detailed in the most recent accusations.  

But she managed to secure justice when he was jailed for a year on two counts of grand larceny and hopes the five women involved in the latest case get justice too.

‘I think he should be in jail for all of his life,’ she told the New York Post. ‘He rapes women of their money, of their dignity.’

Kirstie was dealing with ‘quite a painful breakup’ when she met Counne and she said he claimed he was an art dealer from Hastings, England, visiting New York to complete a deal that ‘wasn’t totally legit’ but would make him rich.

The 71-year-old said he lied about being a Vietnam hero, an art dealer, investment opportunities and even having cancer.

‘He was absolutely a sweet talker,’ she said. ‘Then 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.’

She then gave him $1,000 but she didn’t see any returns. Counne later proposed to her with a diamond ring he told her not to wear until it was insured.

Counne, who pleaded not guilty, is being held on $150,000 cash bail or a bond of up to $350,000
He would use the alias Nelson or Justin Roth in his schemes,
He claimed he had access to the Alibaba Group and a fake start-up company Counne said he co-owned with a former Google executive

Kirstie took it to a jeweler to see if it was real but it was not and she confronted him, although they stayed together.

He invited her to go to Europe with him over Christmas but canceled and said he had colon cancer and was being treated in New York-Presbyterian Hospital but did not want to be seen.

She tried to visit him and staff told her he had ‘never registered’, however Counne claimed he was unlisted on a private floor.

She added: ‘There was always an excuse. It’s amazing what he conjured up, like the feds were after him.

‘But to me, I was ready in my life to let go, just to abandon my life and he painted this fantasy of a life that we could lead together.

‘I wanted to just explore and go to Europe and have all this money that he told me we were going to have.’

He continued to press her for money and managed to get $5,000 from her.

Kristie realized her $2,000 diamond ring was missing and she immediately suspected Counne, who denied taking it.

She then received a call from another woman named Elaine who had been dating him too and she had lost a necklace.

The pair began bonding and digging into him before they met a third woman in Philadelphia who was also being conned by Counne.

Kristie continued to date him to extract more information and kept notes to remember details that could help with the case before they reported the stolen jewelry to the police, which led to his conviction.

Counne was sentenced to a year in prison and served eight months.

He was revealed to be doing exactly the same thing with different women in 2018 under the name ‘Nelson Roth’.

He began speaking to an Upper East Side woman online and claimed he was an art dealer who had multiple homes around the world and a luxury apartment on East 63rd Street.

Counne allegedly borrowed $7,000 from her daughter Julia, and after a month she paid this money back herself.

Soon into the new relationships he would start pitching women investment opportunities, with some claiming to the New Yorker that he would also steal their jewelry to gift to his new love interests
Counne would brag that he was a wealthy art collector and investor and lived in a mega-mansion close to Central Park

Julia read messages on her mother’s phone, which indicated he owed her at least $60,000 and she began to look into her mother’s new boyfriend with the help of a private investigator who told her who Counne actually was.

She then told her mother everything and she then contacted the District Attorney’s office who charged him with stealing more than $1.8million from five women as far back as 2012.

Kristie is planning to attend Counne’s trial and has been writing a screenplay on her ordeal.

‘I think it’s very empowering for women to hear my story,’ she said. ‘And to know that they’re not alone, that this happens all the time.

‘I knew who he was back then, when I put him in jail. This is who is he is; he’s a serial con man.’

Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Kofi Sansculotte told the court in March: ‘In the end, almost all of Counne’s representations proved to be false.

‘He was not independently wealthy and the only funds into his accounts were from confirmed and suspected victims of his romance scams.

‘Further, the money put into his accounts by the victims were never used for any investments but were instead used to perpetuate the illusion of his wealth to new victims and to repay previous victims who had detected his fraud.’

Prosecutors also told the court that Counne had never traveled internationally and did not even own a passport.

He would use dating apps as well as targeting women in luxury hotels and restaurants – including five-star UES hotel Carlyle and the Surrey.

Victims told the New Yorker that they met him in Campagnola, Bemelmans Bar and the Orsay restaurant during their dalliance with him.

Once women started making initial investments, he would claim that they had to give him more money for expenses and salaries for staff.

Counne claimed that his funds were tied up in investments or that his accounts were frozen due to U.S. and European investigations into his financial activities.

He promised to repay each of the victims their initial investment plus a substantial profit within a few weeks.

Last year he was also charged with scamming a Connecticut woman out of $500,000, according to a report by the Greenwich Time.

His lawyer told Manhattan Supreme Court in March that he is an ‘elderly man’ who always appeared in court when required.

Dannielle Von Lehman added that his criminal history dates to 2007 but did not provide details.

In 1987, Counne was indicted for the murder of a jewelry dealer, for which he was later acquitted – with the alleged conman then being shot multiple times in the chest three years later.

Victims told the New Yorker that they met him in Campagnola, Bemelmans Bar (pictured) and the Orsay restaurant during their dalliance with him
He would use dating apps as well as targeting women in luxury hotels and restaurants ¿ including five-star UES hotel Carlyle and the Surrey

Assistant DA Raymond Castello said that a family member of the jewelry dealer who had been killed, was ‘some kind of karma for his past deeds’ according to the New Yorker.

The article in the New Yorker details Counne’s relationships with at least four women dating to 2000.

All of the women say they met him in the Upper East Side, and Counne presented himself as a ‘mysterious’ man who had a lot of money and

Counne has also found himself battling against a civil case, which was lodged in 2022, where he was accused of ‘owing money to the plaintiff for loans’.

It is unclear if the plaintiff, another woman, is one of the five referred to in the criminal case. Her lawyers are seeking at least $1million in interests, costs and expenses as well as damages.

DA Bragg added: ‘As alleged, Nelson Counne’s sole source of income for the past eight years was money he swindled.

‘He allegedly fed lie after lie to women he falsely claimed to have a romantic interest in, enticing them with investment opportunities that never existed while using their funds to repay past victims, lure in new ones, and fund his lifestyle.

‘We urge everyone to exercise caution when told there’s an investment opportunity that seems too good to be true.



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