Police: Scammer Cons Women Looking For Love Out Of More Than $200,000
CAMDEN, N.J. (CBS) -- An alleged con man strikes again. Women looking for love are scammed out of thousands of dollars, according to officials, by a South Jersey man. After serving two years in prison, Patrick Giblin, who is now 52, was allowed to go out on a work release program.
It was during that time that federal prosecutors say he started on scams for the second time.
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Maybe there was something in his voice, or his job in the gambling industry. Maybe it was because he was the son of a judge and had a beach house that led more than 100 women to lend Giblin nearly $200,000 in total after connecting with him on phone dating lines.
The only truth was that Giblin had a gambling problem.
According to court records, the former Ventnor resident was charged with fraud in 2005. This week, he was indicted again for exploiting at least eight more women in the same way.
Attorney Gregg Shivers has prosecuted cases like this in the past and says that a lover's lie can be deemed criminal. "If someone convinces someone that they are romantically interested in them, and that if they give them money, they'll come and visit, that could be a material misrepresentation," Shivers explained.
According to the latest court filings, that is exactly how Giblin did it, promising visits over the phone, asking women to fund them and then never showing up.
"Everyone lies when they're dating, to some degree," Shivers said, "But that doesn't make it a crime, but if you say something that you know is not true, and you do it with the intent of obtaining property from a person," that is what makes it a crime.
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These women were from across the United States. They never met Giblin, but did wire transfer money to him after knowing him over the phone for just a few short weeks.
Giblin is facing up to 20 years behind bars.
