IT WAS OIL A LIE
I’m no tycoon, lothario says as he fesses fraud
A MAN accused of posing online as an oil tycoon to steal women’s hearts — and then their money — admitted Tuesday to his slick ruse.
John Edward Taylor, 46, pleaded guilty to one count each of wire fraud and threatening interstate communications in relation to his money-siphoning scheme.
“I told them that I was something that I wasn’t,” Taylor said at one point during the hourlong proceeding. “It was a lie.”
Taylor “trolled dating websites to find unsuspecting women for his ‘romance’ scam, designed to steal their money,” by cribbing their personal information, the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office had claimed.
The ripoff Romeo was originally accused of tricking some 15 women he met on dating websites such as Match.com, eHarmony, SeekingArrangement and Craigslist from September 2009 to March 2016 — and pocketing $360,000 in ill-gotten gains.
The U.S. attorney’s office said Taylor told his victims he was a “wealthy businessman with oil and land interests in North Dakota.”
He allegedly told most of them he wanted both a business and personal relationship in order to get his hands on their financial info.
Under his plea agreement, Taylor admitted to swindling five or more victims, causing losses from $250,000 to $550,000 from September 2011 to March 2016.
“I lied to these women as a part of a scheme to defraud them and duped them into giving me their bank account information,” said a tearful Taylor. He was trembling so much during the proceeding that Manhattan Federal Judge Laura Taylor Swain asked him if he was cold.
“I am deeply ashamed of what happened,” he said. “I knew it was wrong and against the law.”
He also said that in one relationship, things “got out of control.”
“I had genuine feelings for this woman,” Taylor said, “and when she tried to break up with me, I threatened to ruin her reputation.”
Taylor said in court that he was suffering from severe depression, posttraumatic stress disorder and panic disorder.
He also said he was taking several medications for his conditions, as well as meds for high blood pressure.
Under Taylor’s plea agreement, prosecutors are recommending a sentence from 51 to 63 months in federal lockup.
Because federal judges don’t have to follow prosecutors’ sentencing recommendations, Taylor faces a maximum of 32 years behind bars.
He is set to be sentenced on Jan. 4.