Serial romance fraudsters have been in the spotlight since Netflix’s documentary The Tinder Swindler, featuring Israeli conman Simon Leviev. Adding to the long list of love fraudsters is David Checkley, also known by the alias ‘David Cohen,’ who was sentenced to 11 years imprisonment on November 29 at the Old Bailey.
Checkley, a 65-year-old resident of St Albans in the United Kingdom, defrauded at least 10 women of a combined total of £100,000 (approximately NIS 470,600). He was found guilty of 19 counts of fraud and one count of theft.
The Met charged that Checkley had fabricated stories and identities to create a persona of an “intelligent, knowledgeable and powerful man.” After establishing this persona, Checkley encouraged his victims to send him money.
The lies of David Checkley
Checkley told his victims a variety of lies, including that he was a fighter pilot, a Vietnam War veteran, and a successful architect. He also claimed to have had powerful friends and an ex-wife who was an American billionaire.
All Checkley's victims were women aged 40-70 years old.
At the time of Checkley’s arrest in 2021, he was living part-time with two different women, whom he had been in separate five-year relationships with. They claimed to have been unaware of his actions.
In January 2020, Checkley began a false relationship with a woman online. After a couple of dates, he asked the woman for £3,200 for new windows for his house. He promised that he would return the sum within 48 hours but, after he received the money, the fraudster came up with excuses as to why he could not return the funds. Despite not returning the initial funds, Checkley later asked the woman for £400,000. The victim refused.
Continuing her relationship with Checkley, he would boast he owned a successful architecture company and he would regularly tell her about the holidays and business trips he would take. Checkley also claimed he had recently bought a house in Barnet worth £3.2 million. After becoming increasingly suspicious of him, due to his need to borrow money, the woman Googled him and found reports of his previous fraud offenses. She later attempted to block the bank transfer of £3200 after confirming that Checkley's £3.2 million house was still for sale, and had never been purchased by him.
Another of Checkley's victims, whom he had again met on an online dating app, contacted police in October 2020. He had conned approximately £1,000 from the woman after claiming he was awaiting money from foreign investors and he would repay the money once he had that money from them. The woman repeatedly asked for her money back and eventually Checkley transferred her £100. The transfer revealed Checkley's real name, which enabled the victim to realize that 'Cohen' had been a criminal alias. The woman searched Checkley’s name online and saw several news articles detailing his prior fraudulent activity.
What did Checkley do with the stolen funds?
After searching both of Checkley’s addresses, police found invoices relating to the purchase of expensive jewelry, a brochure for a large mansion in Hertfordshire, and a receipt in a woman’s name for a £7,250 Rolex watch purchased in 2018.
Additionally, in the garage of one of the homes, police uncovered two new Harley Davidson motorbikes worth approximately £40,000 which had been purchased using Checkley’s account.
Located near one of the homes, police recovered a Mini, and three Mercedes which had been linked to the fraudster.
Detective Superintendent John Roch, from the Met’s Economic Crime Team, said “Our determination remains resolute in ensuring that offenders like Checkley are held accountable and brought to justice.
“There is no doubt that Checkley is a prolific and systematic fraudster who spun a web of lies to his victims. He abused the honest intentions of his victims in the most callous way. He is a fantasist who claimed to lead an enviable lifestyle but in reality, he is a criminal who deceived innocent people for his own financial gain," he said.
“Most importantly, I want to commend the women who came forward to report Checkley," Roch said. "They have shown incredible strength for following their instincts when something felt amiss and then reporting him to police. Romance fraud is a crime that has both an emotional and financial impact on victims and I hope that today’s sentencing can begin to give some closure to the women in this case.”