'Worst Boyfriend' In NYC Nets Prison Time After Scamming UES Women: DA

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — The 71-year-old man known as "the worst boyfriend on the Upper East Side" was sentenced to a lengthy prison term on Tuesday for bilking nearly $2 million out of lonely women over the course of nearly a decade.

Nelson Counne, a phony art dealer who found his victims on dating apps, has been sentenced to four-to-eight years in state prison. The sentencing comes after he pleaded guilty to charges of grand larceny and scheme to defraud, District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced Tuesday.

“Nelson Counne used an expertly crafted persona and elaborate web of lies to convince women to hand over their savings,” Bragg said. “At least five women were conned into pouring money into his supposed investment opportunities while unknowingly helping him to repay previous victims and lure in new ones.”

A New Yorker piece released in April 2022 dubbed Counne "the worst boyfriend on the Upper East Side."

Prosecutors said that Counne has been prowling the dating apps since 2012, when he began using the aliases Nelson and Justin Roth to scam unsuspecting women.

While Counne told women he was a wealthy retired art dealer with homes in London, Madrid and the South of France, he didn't even own a passport, prosecutors said.

Shortly after entering into relationships, prosecutors said that Counne presented each of the five victims with a supposed investment opportunity. He refused to provide details, sometimes telling the women that the investment existed in a "gray area between legal and illegal" and occasionally hinting that he had access to inside information.

Among the opportunities Counne pitched was a start-up online lottery where students could pay for the chance to win college tuition coverage, Bragg said.

After the initial investments, Counne typically asked for additional financial support from each of the victims, prosecutors said. He justified these requests by claiming the additional money was necessary for investment-related expenses, such as paying "fixers" to ensure deal completion, covering salaries, and housing costs for the tech start-up staff.

Counne claimed that his funds were tied up in the investments or that his accounts were frozen because of U.S. and European investigations into his financial activities. He promised each victim repayment of their initial investment plus a substantial profit within a few weeks, court records show.

Ultimately, almost all of Counne’s claims were false, prosecutors said.

He did not own homes in London or the south of France, nor did he ever travel internationally or possess independent wealth. The only funds in his accounts were from victims of his romance scams, court records show.

Instead of investing the money as promised, Counne used the funds to create an illusion of wealth to lure new victims and repay previous victims who had uncovered his fraud, prosecutors said.

"While the scale of this fraud is remarkable, romance scams are all too common. We urge you to call us at 212-335-8900 if you or someone you know has been a victim," Bragg said.