Authorities on Monday indicted Nelson Counne, 69, after he allegedly stole $1.8 million from five women through romance and investment scams, Manhattan District Attorney (DA) Alvin L. Bragg Jr. announced in a press release.
“As alleged, Nelson Counne’s sole source of income for the past eight years was money he swindled,” according to Bragg. “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.”
Counne allegedly operated under the aliases Nelson Roth or Justin Roth, and claimed to be a wealthy retired art dealer and investor with homes in London, Manhattan and the South of France, according to the DA. He reportedly spent nearly a decade scamming women by convincing them of a purported investment opportunity. (RELATED: Police Warn That Elderly People Are Getting Scammed On Dating Sites)
Counne then asked each victim for additional financial support after the initial investment, according to the DA. He told the women he needed the additional funds for investment-related expenses, claiming his own funds were already being used in the investments, or that his accounts were frozen due to probes into his financial dealings, the press release continues.
The victims’ funds made Counne appear wealthy so that he could continue scamming them, according to the DA. Almost all of Counne’s purported claims were false, and he reportedly does not own any homes internationally.
NEW: We announced the indictment of Nelson Counne for stealing more than $1.8M from five women through a series of romance & investment scams. Read more here: https://t.co/j125hpAEXT
— Alvin Bragg (@ManhattanDA) March 13, 2023
He is being charged with scheme to defraud in the first degree, grand larceny in the second degree and grand larceny in the third degree in a New York State Supreme Court indictment. Counne was accused in 2022 of scamming a 75-year-old woman out of $500,000, according to the Greenwich Time.