26-Year-Old Dating Scammer in Vienna Sentenced to Two Years in Prison

For serious commercial fraud, a 26-year-old was legally sentenced to two years in prison, eight months of which are unconditional, on Wednesday at the Vienna Regional Court. Between January 2021 and February 2025, he met twelve women on various dating platforms and tricked them with fabricated stories to give him money, which he did not repay. The trained fashion consultant was not engaged in any regular paid employment recently. He was addicted to gambling.

147,000 euros swindled to finance gambling addiction

"You let the victims finance your gambling addiction. You did this until you were taken into pre-trial detention," summarized Judge Julia Nagy in the reasoning of the verdict, the results of the evidence procedure. The 26-year-old was ordered by the court to undergo therapy to overcome his gambling addiction. Probation assistance was also ordered.

According to the legally binding court findings, he obtained 147,000 euros by telling his victims he urgently needed money for dental surgery, funeral costs, or car repairs. He also faked alleged police fines. If he did not pay these, he would have to reckon with his deportation, explained the man, who, despite a Spanish first name, is a Romanian citizen.

Women "made compliant through emotional abuse and sustainably traumatized"

The prosecutor had harsh words for the defendant. His behavior was "unmatched in ruthlessness, misogyny, and deceitfulness." The man had made the affected women, aged between 22 and 34, "compliant through emotional abuse" and "sustainably traumatized. He broke their hearts. They trust no one anymore." Some women believed they were in a committed relationship with the defendant and only learned from the police that he had a steady partner and simultaneously maintained up to three sexual relationships.

Defendant Denies Malice: "I Wasn't Looking for True Love"

The defendant was mostly confessing, but pointed out that these were "casual relationships" after Tinder dates and "nothing serious": "I wasn't looking for true love. They were initially sexual relationships. The fact that I took money just happened. It wasn't planned." He admitted, "I'm guilty in the sense that I borrowed money and lied. That I did it out of malice is not true."

The 26-year-old cited his gambling addiction as a motive, which also caused him to lose his job. He had become addicted to online poker. His defense attorney noted that the women had given his client the money "voluntarily," in some cases even "insisted": "At some point, he had borrowed so much that it was clear he couldn't pay it back."

Threatened Women with Suicide

"I always hoped I would win and could pay it back," the defendant assured the jury. "For four years?" interjected presiding judge Julia Nagy. "I lost my sense of time," replied the 26-year-old. When asked why he didn't speak plainly and reveal his financial problems to the women, he responded, "I was embarrassed and ashamed. I wanted to maintain my personality."

He received the most money from a 33-year-old woman who had an intimate relationship with the man from January to May 2024. After a few weeks, he asked her for money, the woman told the court: "One time it was a fine in court, otherwise he would go to jail, another time his mother died. I believed everything he said." In the end, over 42,000 euros were gone: "I was shocked at how much it was." The man had put emotional pressure on her: "He said he had no one else but me and that he would kill himself if I didn't help him. That really affected me."

(APA/Red)

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