he was handsome charismatic and seemingly wealthy beyond measure phacelia feel oi it was an easy decision to swipe right this guy Simon comes up on my phone and you can see that he lives a very different life than what I'm living he had some selfies a picture in a nice car you could see that it was a private jet there's an overall package the 29 year old grad student studying in London says she was immediately swept off her feet by Simon Lai vibe and swept into a high-powered world of luxury just his aura and course
much after all most first dates don't end with a trip on a private jet they take you to get on this plane and you go to Bulgaria yeah I was texting my friends that at the same time like I didn't know what's going on you stayed with him yeah you had a nice time and then you came back to the UK and then what did you think it was this is gonna continue as a relationship but I started like feeling like okay this guy actually is really nice and funny and yes someone that I could
date and like maybe have something with it but her dream of finding mr. right went horribly wrong I hate Celia says Simon told her he was an Israeli millionaire with a nickname the prince of diamonds but he wasn't who he said he was was very tired about crying over this you know I mean it just comes so just I can't help it I just it's just so painful because I hate myself for the like I just hate that I did this you know and according to Celia their brief romance turned into a real-life nightmare Celia
alleges Simon de forded her out of $200,000 leaving her spiraling into debt suicidal and fearing for her safety he manages to do this because he is a great guy who pretends that he cares so much for other people so you want to care for him as well a lot of people watching might think if it was three or four thousand pounds I would start to feel like I need this money back you know to get to 200 I know it sounds so crazy for people but the sums weren't a lot and I could see the
spends that he did on my own on my cards she's now speaking out warning others about the dangers of online dating Simon live I born Simon heute is a 28 year old convicted con man who served three years in finished prison for defrauding several women to fund his lavish lifestyle as well see how much talk there is about the banks Celia says she was lulled into a false sense of security by his ground romantic gestures and flowery declarations of love what will support you or will help you and we will lift each other unite secured
you sweet you let me to do what I need to do and and I really really really appreciate it phacelia the relationship started out innocently enough this was the first time where I felt oh my god I really like him and it seems that he really likes me back as well you like the feeling of being like when do you consider yourself to be his girlfriend I think it was maybe a month after that she says Simon told her that his job as a diamond dealer kept him traveling constantly so they dated long distance their
romance conducted via modern day love letters in texts video messages and voice recordings we feel great in a beautiful and a successful an amazing day as you kisses Simon stole away to London when he could but Cydia says that more often than not he flew her to where he was always alluding to an element of danger in his job that kept him away jetting around constantly on private planes how often would you see him on a weekly basis I saw him like in London the next week and that's when he started that he couldn't come
back to London because of the threats that he had been getting within a week he was already saying to you I can't come back to London there are threats against my life but he could get me to where he was she said Simon claimed to be under constant threat from unknown nefarious enemies a hazard he said of working in the diamond business so there's nothing during this time that's making you think this isn't real he's fake oh no no no good night in my life I miss you so much I can't wait to see you
Celia says that Simon surrounded himself with people who helped perpetuate the myth even going so far as to send videos of himself and his bodyguard in the hospital after they were allegedly attacked soon there was another strange element to his story she says he asked her to extend her line of credit to him so that plane tickets hotels and dinners will be booked using her name keeping supposed enemies thrown off his trail how do you go from being that someone who's presented as a very wealthy man to someone who you now need to give money
to its protection I know it's not right but he needed my name as a cover he said protection from his enemies as he's calling them you just believed him when he said that I know it sounds so crazy and I like I wish I could take care of everything back is more like when you have a bodyguard why would this giant guy be with him if he didn't need the didn't need the protection Celia says she relented because Simon promised to pay her back but the repayments from Simon were nowhere to be seen despite his
insistence that they were on their way the amounts that he needs to be able to just function for a week it's just so much it's never just a few thousand for us normal people that is a lot of money but for him it's not a lot of money how could you have trusted him to take out that amount of money like of course he has the money so he will pay me back you didn't even think that it was a problem when you were taking up the loans because you were so sure that the money
existed for anything else you loved him yeah I think that's the hardest part of it like when I realized that he wasn't we said it was was the love aspect that the person that I thought that I knew and and loved he had just done this in the most evil way suddenly see Leah's dream romance was crushing down around her two guys from American Express comes to you I said that that's that's that's him that's the guy they told me that they had had a long investigations on him already and I was a string of
four or five women I almost wanted to throw up everything just came crashing down at once Celia alleges that Simon was continuing to run the same scheme that put him in finished jail just a few years ago using her money to fund his luxury lifestyle and your other women into his orbit a cycle doomed to repeat itself yeah I had to be put into a psychiatric ward because of suicidal thoughts I didn't see a way out you lost your boyfriend and nothing that he just dumped you you didn't never existed he was never your boyfriend
Celia filed a report with a metropolitan police in London who declined our request for comment American Express told ABC they do not comment on open investigations meanwhile Simon says he's in Panama telling us via text that he is innocent there's nothing here just alone between friends that went south she agreed to loan me money and then she disappeared not answering phones or emails or letters before we were able to pay her back they used me for my life and got expensive gifts and everything in other words gold diggers when I asked help they agreed to
help and they know that I have some problem I didn't run from no one it's all fake news and lies for now Syria remains in London trying to rebuild her life I see a difference in myself when I talk to people maybe that's naive much much less nice for Nightline I'm James Loman in London hi everyone George Stephanopoulos here thanks for checking out the ABC News YouTube channel if you'd like to get more video show highlights and watch live event coverage click on the right over here to subscribe to our Channel and don't forget to
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