A man has appeared in court accused of fleecing six women out of almost £600,000 in romance fraud scams.
Marc Cole-Jones, 52, is accused of 22 counts of over a 15-year period.
The fraudster stole £600.000 from six different women
The charges relate to six women from , , Shropshire, , and the .
The offences allegedly occurred between 2009 and 2024 and totalled £595.791.
One woman is said to have handed over £20,000 to Cole-Jones after he “emotionally blackmailed” her.
He is accused of making the woman believe someone had broken into his home and murdered his dog.
Another woman was reportedly told by Cole-Jones that he had gotten “in difficulties” with organised .
Yet another woman was allegedly deceived into buying him a £75,000 canal boat.
Cole-Jones is then said to have sold the boat for profit without the woman’s knowledge.
Cole-Jones, also known as Marc Cole and Marc Sands, appeared in the dock at Chester Crown wearing a blue suit and spoke only to confirm his name.
He was not required to enter pleas to the charges.
Cole-Jones, of Donnington, Telford, Shropshire, will next appear in on February 5, when a trial date is expected to be fixed.
Judge Natalie Cuddy bailed the defendant until February 5 next year, when he must appear back at the same court for a plea and trial preparation hearing.
He was bailed on condition he shares details of his bank accounts, provides with any mobile telephone numbers he is using, reports to a police station in Telford once a week, and does not contact directly or indirectly any of the complainants.
The charges follow an by detectives from the Economic Unit at Police.
An earlier hearing was told that Cole-Jones allegedly “exploited” the women’s trust “for financial gain.”
It was claimed that Cole-Jones abused trust over a significant period of time.
According to prosecuters there are a large number of victims.
Cole-Jones will appear in court again on February 5
Cole-Jones appeared at Chester Crown Court accused of 22 counts of fraud 
