Dec 10, 2022

A fake Romeo charmed more than 100 women with promises of romance, then scammed them. Now he’s going to prison

CNN
December 10, 2022

"Patrick Giblin was like the American version of the “Tinder Swindler” – but without the private jets. 

He wooed women with stories about his respectable family – his father was a judge, he said – and beachfront property in Atlantic City, New Jersey, where he said he worked in the casino industry, according to a federal criminal complaint. He told them he was ready to settle down and was more interested in a woman’s inner beauty than her outward appearance. 

He vowed that distance was not an issue because he had access to discount flights and was even ready to move to a woman’s city to further their romance. 

But federal officials say those were all lies, concocted to swindle women looking for love through dating sites. A review of plea agreements and federal complaints show that Giblin conned at least 100 women over two decades, coaxing them out of more than $250,000 with false promises followed by requests for short-term loans that were never repaid. 

“He preyed on vulnerabilities, promising to end the loneliness of a woman who had recently ended a long-term relationship or soothing someone who recently suffered the death of a loved one,” said a report by federal prosecutors in New Jersey. “Giblin would convince these women that he was willing to relocate to their locales but needed money wired to do so.” 

Despite convictions and serving prison time, he continued to defraud women, even after he was caught and twice escaped from federal custody. 

Prosecutors say Giblin even scammed women from prison while he was serving time on similar charges, and after he became a fugitive for failing to show up at a halfway house in Newark, New Jersey. 

But his schemes may finally be over. On Wednesday a federal judge sentenced Giblin to 66 months in prison for escaping from federal custody and one count of wire fraud for engaging in a scheme to defraud women over telephone dating services." 

https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/09/us/patrick-giblin-romance-scammer-cec/index.html

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