Upper East Side scammer, 71, dubbed 'worst boyfriend in Manhattan' appears in ... trends now
An elderly man deemed 'the worst boyfriend on the Upper East Side' has appeared in court in shackles ahead of his trial for scamming several women out of nearly $2 million.
Nelson Counne, 71, appeared at Manhattan Supreme Court on Tuesday to face multiple counts of second-degree grand larceny, third-degree grand larceny and fraud.
His trial date was ultimately adjourned to May 18, allowing his lawyers time to recover the phone records of several witnesses who claim key evidence in the form of text messages was deleted.
He is accused of posing as a wealthy art dealer and scamming at least five women out more than $1.8 million after meeting them on a dating site and striking up a romantic relationship with each of them.
Counne has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is being held in jail on $150,000 cash bail or a $350,000 insurance bond.
Nelson Counne, 71, appeared in Manhattan Supreme Court on Tuesday. The man stands accused of defrauding at least five women out of more than $1.8 million
Counne's trial date was ultimately adjourned to May 18, providing his lawyers more time to recover the phone records of witnesses who claim their texts were deleted
The elderly man has pleaded not guilty to several counts of second-degree grand larceny, third-degree grand larceny and fraud
He failed to appear for a hearing in February, with defense attorney Danielle Von Lehman claiming he was feeling unwell due to his age.
The 71-year-old's criminal racket was exposed in a New Yorker article dubbing him 'the worst boyfriend on the Upper East Side'.
Prosecutors allege the accused con artist would meet unsuspecting victims on Our Time, a dating site for people aged 50 or over.
He presented himself as a wealthy art collector and investor with an impressive real estate portfolio including property in London, Florida and Saint-Tropez, as well as an imposing apartment near Central Park.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg claimed the instances of fraud date back to December 2012, but Counne, who was arrested last March, has denied the allegations.
The 71-year-old requested to be released on his own recognizance in May 2023, but the effort fell short as the judge deemed him a flight risk.
Prosecutors allege he used the aliases 'Nelson Roth' or 'Justin Roth' as he spun a tale about co-owning a fake start-up company alongside a former Google executive.
Soon into the relationships he would allegedly start pitching the women investment opportunities.
But he 'refused to provide details, sometimes telling the women that the investment existed in a "gray area between legal and illegal",' Bragg wrote in a press release last year.
The accused con artist gained notoriety through a New Yorker article dubbing him 'the worst boyfriend on the Upper East Side'
Prosecutors allege he used the aliases 'Nelson Roth' or 'Justin Roth' and presented himself as the co-owner a fake tech start-up
After the initial investment, Counne would seek even more money, claiming it was needed for 'investment-related expenses' as well as 'salaries and housing costs for the staff of the tech start-up,' according to Bragg.
Conne promised to repay each of the victims their original investments plus a substantial profit on top, but this never panned out, as the 71-year-old claimed his funds were tied up in the investments, or his accounts were frozen due to investigations into his financial activities.
'Ultimately, almost all of Counne's claims were false,' Brag wrote. 'Not only did he not own homes in London and the South of France, he has never traveled internationally and does not have a passport.
'He was not independently wealthy, and the only funds in his accounts were from victims of his romance scams.
'Instead of being invested, the victims’ funds were used to make Counne appear wealthy to new victims, and to repay previous victims who had detected his fraud.'
One woman identified in the New Yorker piece as Kristie claimed she lost $5,000 to the alleged conman.
Their entanglement began when she met
