Dating site conman left ex-wife bankrupt
Matthew Samuels, a conman who used dating sites to steal an astonishing £180,000 from his victims, also left his ex-wife with £150,000 of debt - as well as the emotional damage caused by years of lies.
Samuels, a 50-year-old from Worcester, was jailed for eight years last week, after it emerged he had set up multiple profiles on dating sites, and over four years he targeted five vulnerable women.
In one case, when the woman he met online decided to break things off, he turned his attention to her 79-year-old widowed mother and persuaded her to part with £110,000.
His many lies included claiming to be a millionaire behind an insurance website and a balloon company boss. Once he had reeled women in, he invented a variety of reasons for them to give him money.
He told one he had been robbed and needed a loan, and another he needed the money to sue an accountant who had stolen his money. He took out a £10,000 in the name of one of his victims - who he had moved in with at the time.
He spent the money on a fancy wardrobe and expensive cars - which he used to convince his next victim of his credentials.
Ex-wife conned
His ex-wife, Caroline Morris (48), from Lichfield in Staffordshire, has now spoken to The Sun, about the financial destruction he brought upon her too. She said he was incredibly manipulative, and that by the time of the divorce he had run up debts of £150,000 in her name, forcing her to go bankrupt. She added that she was delighted when she discovered he had been convicted.
She is the mother of seven of his ten children, and was completely unaware that while he was living in the family home, he had another secret family with stable worker Anne Marshall (33) - with whom he had three children. He was so good at manipulating the women that he persuaded Morris to let his younger lover move in - and even share a bed.
Morris divorced him in 2007, and despite having a seventh child with him in 2008, the relationships with both the mothers of his children were over by the time the dating con started.
During the court case it emerged that nobody was safe from his lies. His sister even lost £35,000 after he showed her a fake winning EuroMillions lottery ticket, and said he wanted to go into business with her. He had told her to stop paying her mortgage because he would cover it. She only discovered the lie when she received papers saying her home was being repossessed.
He even lied to police after his arrest - telling them that he had plenty of cash to repay his victims at home - when in reality he had £2,840 in a jacket pocket. He claimed the police had stolen the money.
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