Notorious “Worst Boyfriend” Faces Trial for Scamming Millions from Upper East Side Women
NEW YORK CITY – An elderly man dubbed “the worst boyfriend on the Upper East Side” has appeared in court in shackles ahead of his trial for allegedly scamming several women out of nearly $2 million. Nelson Counne, 71, faced multiple counts of second-degree grand larceny, third-degree grand larceny, and fraud as he appeared at Manhattan Supreme Court on Tuesday.
Counne’s 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. The 71-year-old has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is being held in jail on $150,000 cash bail or a $350,000 insurance bond.
Prosecutors allege that Counne’s criminal racket was exposed in a New Yorker article that dubbed him “the worst boyfriend on the Upper East Side.” According to the article, the accused con artist would meet unsuspecting victims on the dating site Our Time, which caters to people aged 50 and over.
Counne allegedly presented himself as a wealthy art collector and investor with an impressive real estate portfolio, including properties in London, Florida, and Saint-Tropez, as well as an imposing apartment near Central Park. However, prosecutors claim these claims of wealth and assets were entirely fabricated.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg stated that the instances of fraud date back to December 2012, though Counne, who was arrested last March, has denied the allegations. Prosecutors allege the 71-year-old used aliases such as “Nelson Roth” or “Justin Roth” as he spun a tale about co-owning a fake start-up company alongside a former Google executive.
Soon after meeting the women, Counne would allegedly start pitching investment opportunities, refusing to provide details and sometimes claiming the investments existed in a “gray area between legal and illegal.” After the initial investment, he would seek even more money, claiming it was needed for “investment-related expenses” and “salaries and housing costs for the staff of the tech start-up.”
Counne allegedly promised to repay each of the victims their original investments plus a substantial profit, but this never materialized. He would claim 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,” Bragg wrote in a press release.
One victim, identified as Kristie, met Counne at a pricey Upper East Side Italian restaurant in 2000 and said he presented himself as an English art dealer visiting New York. Over the course of their relationship, Counne managed to swindle her out of $5,000, and Kristie later realized her $2,000 diamond ring was missing, suspecting Counne was behind the theft.
Counne’s con began to unravel when Kristie received a call from another woman named Elaine who had also lost a necklace while dating him. The pair met a third woman in Philadelphia who realized she was also being tricked, and the women reported the stolen jewelry to authorities. Counne was slapped with a year-long prison sentence, of which he served eight months.
However, Counne was undeterred and in 2018 was caught scamming other women under the name “Nelson Roth.” That year, he began speaking to an Upper East Side woman online, claiming to be an art dealer with homes around the world. He allegedly borrowed $7,000 from the woman’s daughter, Julia, which the woman later paid back herself.
When Julia read the text messages exchanged between Counne and her mother, she learned that he owed her mother at least $60,000. After confirming his identity with the help of a private investigator, Julia contacted the District Attorney’s office, which lodged a case against him.
Counne was also charged with defrauding a Connecticut woman out of $500,000 in 2022. According to an affidavit, the woman contacted Greenwich police in March 2021 after providing a certain “Nelson Roth” with $75,000 that had vanished. The swindler had promised not only to recoup the money but to “return her investment 10 times the amount she had provided.”
The Greenwich woman later stopped cooperating with police, stating that she and Counne were in a romantic relationship, and the two wed in Virginia the same year. However, a Greenwich detective contacted the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, and investigations revealed Counne had no source of income other than the scam.
In addition to the numerous allegations of fraud and larceny, violence has frequently cropped up in Counne’s criminal past. At just 34 years old, he was charged with, and later acquitted of, second-degree murder, and he was also charged with assault in Connecticut in June 2020 for allegedly hitting a woman during an argument, though that charge was ultimately dropped.
As Counne faces trial for his alleged crimes, the victims of his elaborate romance scams continue to grapple with the financial and emotional toll of his deceptions. The case serves as a stark reminder of the dangers that can lurk behind the veneer of a seemingly charming and successful suitor.
