70-year-old man accused of scamming women on dating apps out of $1.8M

At least five New York City women are out of more than $1.8 million due to an accused scammer dubbed the "worst boyfriend on the Upper East Side," according to reports.

"Nelson Counne, 70, was arraigned on an indictment charging him with fraud and grand larceny for allegedly luring lonely women on online dating sites into believing he was a wealthy art collector and investor — then coaxing them into making hefty investments in phony companies," the New York Post reports. 

Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Kofi Sansculotte said in court Monday that Counne was not independently wealthy, and the only funds in his accounts were from suspected victims of his alleged romance scams. 

"Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said that the incidents date back to 2012, but Counne was only arrested on March 13 this year and has denied the allegations against him," the Daily Mail states. 

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Manhattan prosecutors said Nelson Counne, 70, bilked women into making phony investments by claiming he was a wealthy art collector and world traveler, according to The New York Post. (Steven Hirsch)

A judge reportedly ordered Counne to be held on $150,000 cash bail or a bond of up to $750,000 pending a return court appearance on May 3.

Counne would allegedly use the alias Nelson or Justin Roth in his schemes, telling women he had homes in London and the south of France, despite the fact he appears to have never traveled internationally or owned a passport, according to the prosecutor. 

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Counne is also accused of pitching investment opportunities quickly after starting a new relationship, including for the Alibaba Group he falsely claimed to have access to, and a phony start-up company Counne said he co-owned with a former Google executive, prosecutors said.

"Mr. Counne [is] an elderly man," his lawyer, Dannielle Von Lehman, said in Manhattan Supreme Court Monday. "He’s 70 years old. He has lived in the same address on 82nd Street for the past 25 years. He has a prior criminal history but he has zero failures to appear and throughout the entire time."