Internet seducer nabbed in scam

Maybe Paul Krueger should have taken his screen name on Millionairematch.com,

imready ru2007

, a bit more seriously.

Because when police arrested him at the Harrah's casino in Atlantic City Wednesday, he was anything but ready.

Casino security alerted detectives, who had gone to Atlantic City looking for Krueger, that the Internet Casanova had just tried to get a free lunch and stayed in the restaurant too long after finishing his meal.

"They found him lingering over a soda. He had finished his lunch and was about to leave and had actually just lingered a little bit longer, which ultimately caused him to be discovered by the police," said Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Ferman.

"I think his first comment to the detective was, 'I shouldn't have stayed to finish the soda,' " she said.

Krueger's arrest ended the seven-month fantasy world that he allegedly concocted by posing as a music producer to steal money from women looking for companionship, complete with diamonds and caviar.

Krueger was charged with several counts of theft for allegedly swindling more than $100,000 from 13 women, seven of whom he met on a dating Web site, Millionairematch.com, and using the money to fuel his gambling habits.

But Krueger, 50, was no millionaire, had no megamansion, no job and knew next to nothing about music.

In fact, Krueger was balding, heavy and homeless. He had no spare money, only a spare tire.

He used his only possession, a laptop, to lure women, Ferman said.

He chose Millionairematch.

com, which, according to the site's homepage, is the "first, most effective and largest site in the world to date, marry successful, beautiful people."

The online lothario told women that he graduated from the University of Miami with a degree in music technology and that after graduation he lived in Los Angeles, according to the affidavit of probable cause.

He also told his victims, one of whom was a jewelry designer from Texas, that he was a Grammy-nominated record producer and had worked in the music business for more than 20 years.

To bilk them out of their cash, he told the women that he was starting a company that manufactured DVDs, CDs and other videos, and even went so far as to show one victim false stock reports detailing the success of his nonexistent new business venture, the affidavit said.

The women, who Ferman said were from all over the country, then either deposited money into his bank account or mailed him checks to an address where his ex-wife lived.

Ferman said it was a ruse to show his victim that he was a successful investor and that investing money in his company would be "a risk worth taking."

Some women he met face to face. One he met at a casino. But the rest he talked to on the phone or through e-mail.

Authorities launched an investigation into Krueger's life last October when a woman filed a report with the Internet Crime Complaint Center, a federal organization that routinely refers matters for investigation to the local police.

The woman had invested $10,000 in his company and hadn't heard from him. She also had referred several of her friends to Krueger and they invested money with his company, Ferman said.

This victim "unwittingly brought her circle of friends into this investment, believing that she could trust the defendant and because they trusted their friend, they trusted him as well," Ferman said.

Souderton police opened an investigation because Krueger told the victim to send money to what he said was his address in Souderton.

At the same time, a Texas woman who met Krueger on the same dating site hired a private investigator to look into his past. That investigator then contacted a Souderton detective.

From there, police were able to obtain Krueger's bank account information and through those records and information from the initial victim, cops identified 13 other people Krueger had taken advantage of, Ferman added.

"Homeless but with a laptop gives you tremendous access to the outside world," Ferman said.

"It speaks to the level of manipulation that he is able to achieve. That he is able to, without a home, without a job, without any assets of his own, to simply use a laptop and get people to invest thousands of dollars with him," Ferman said.

Krueger, who is being held without bail in the Atlantic County Correctional Facility, is expected to have an extradition hearing some time next week.

According to court records, Krueger pleaded guilty to charges of indecent exposure and lewdness for a 2006 incident in Bucks County.

He also pleaded guilty to a theft charge stemming from a 2005 incident in Montgomery County, court records showed. *