Some relationships are more transactional than others. One con man has a history of scamming women out of money, but his first victim is working hard to make sure he returns behind bars where he belongs.
Kristie, who asked to keep her last name private, was conned out of $5,000 by Nelson Counne in 2000. He was sentenced to a year in jail for these crimes but is back at it again. He is now awaiting trial for allegedly deceiving five other women out of $1.8 million. Kristie hopes this time he stays in jail.
“I think he should be in jail for all of his life,” Kristie said. “He rapes women of their money, of their dignity.” The press has named Counne the “worst boyfriend on the Upper East Side.”
“He was absolutely a sweet talker,” Kristie recalled. “Then he came up with this investment plan that if I gave him some money, he could give me back ten times that because he had this person allowing him to invest. And he wanted me to make money.” She would go on to give him $5,000, despite all kinds of red flags. In 2001, he was convicted of two counts of grand larceny and served eight months of his one-year sentence.
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Counne did not learn his lesson. He was arrested earlier this month for allegedly stealing $1.8 million from five different women. Danielle Von Lehman, Counne’s lawyer, does not believe the women were victims. “These women all appear to be grown, sophisticated people who got involved with Mr. Counne at different times, and were never forced to do anything they did not choose to do of their own free will,” she said. “Women are perfectly capable of making choices. These women had dreams, they saw gold, they made choices, Mr. Counne had dreams, he made plans, and he failed.”
Kristie sees things differently. “I knew who he was back then, when I put him in jail. This is who is he is; he’s a serial con man,” she said. She is writing a screenplay about her experiences with Counne in the hopes of helping other women. “I think it’s very empowering for women to hear my story. And to know that they’re not alone, that this happens all the time,” she concluded.
