Woman Jailed for €300,000 Dating Scam

Woman Jailed for €300,000 Dating Scam

Entrance to the Vienna Regional Court, APA/HANS PUNZ

 

A 37-year-old woman was sentenced to three years in prison on Monday for defrauding a 76-year-old man from Vienna of more than €300,000 after meeting him on a dating platform.

Twelve months of the Slovak national’s sentence are to be served unconditionally.

“I was lied to, robbed and cheated. That’s it,” the 76-year-old married man testified at the Vienna Regional Court on Monday.

The pensioner had met the woman on a dating platform in early January 2022, after which she repeatedly persuaded him to give her money using fabricated stories.

“I am guilty. I am ashamed of it,” the woman admitted in court. She explained that she was addicted to cocaine and gambling and needed the money to support herself. “I always gambled. If I won, I wanted to pay the money back,” she added.

Her lawyer, Alexander Philipp, informed the court that, in addition to her drug addiction and gambling issues, his client had numerous unpaid bills, and that her mother was in hospital and in poor health.

The pensioner, who is married, appears to have been quite taken with the woman from their first meeting. He immediately lent her €5,000 for an alleged relocation. Over time, the accused made up more stories in which she claimed to be in urgent need of money, including for a medical procedure for her mother and an abortion for her daughter.

The accused, who is the mother of a four-year-old son, received nearly €89,000 from the pensioner within the first six months, always providing promissory notes in return. However, none of the money was ever repaid.

The prosecutor accused the 37-year-old of using “flattery and the pretence of romantic feelings” to deceive the man.

With the help of an accomplice, against whom separate proceedings are underway, the accused managed to gain access to the online banking accounts of the man and his wife. A year and a half after their first date, nearly €310,000 had disappeared.

The 76-year-old will only be awarded €5,000 from the accused, which is all the money she has remaining.

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