Florida Man Charged With Conning "Fiance" Into Selling Her Home, Then Bilking Her Of $300K In Sale Proceeds

In Broward County, Florida, The Miami Herald reports:

• Rose Marie Anglade thought she was building a life with the man of her dreams. After meeting him during a visit to Florida, she sold her home in Queens, moved her family to Miramar and began planning a wedding. She had no idea he was making the same plans with another woman -- at the same time. Now, the 49-year-old mother of two has an empty bank account, letters from collection agencies, no husband and lives in a home she knows could be taken from her tomorrow. "Any day now I could be chased from my house,'' Anglade said Wednesday.

• Anglade's hopes for redemption now lie with the Broward Circuit Court. Her former fiancée, alleged "Gentleman Bandit'' Paul Francois, was arrested Wednesday and charged with two counts of grand theft and running an organized scheme to defraud. Francois, according to his arrest warrant, swindled Anglade and at least one other New York woman, Sheila Brissault, out of nearly $400,000 during the last two years. He promised to marry each woman if she sold her home and moved in with him in South Florida. Investigators say Francois charmed both women into either giving him checks or creating joint bank accounts with him. Then he took off with all the money. When they told him to return it, he threatened their lives and their families, according to his arrest affidavit.

• For Brissault, the relationship resulted in a loss of more than $100,000. She never sold her home and did move to South Florida, but she did give Francois the money to use to buy a home for them, according to the affidavit. For Anglade, Francois' alleged scam stole not just the nearly $300,000 she made when she sold her Astoria[, Queens] home, but her pride, freedom and possibly her shelter. Now she buys her groceries with borrowed money or cash made from pawned jewelry and television sets.

For more, see `Gentleman Bandit' from Davie may have stolen more than hearts (A `Gentleman Bandit' is accused of convincing two women to sell their New York homes and move in with him -- only to leave them empty-handed).

See also, Fiancée Fraudster Bilked Would-Be Brides (Scoundrel duped two South Florida women out of hundreds of thousands).