Woman says smooth talker duped her out of life savings

She placed a personal ad. He responded. He talked of race horses and opening a pizza shop. She said she gave him $34,000. ''I thought he was going to help me out,'' she said.

By CHRIS TISCH, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published October 31, 2002

CLEARWATER -- For 30 years, Madge Zellman tucked away money she earned working as a nurse. She saved for when she got old. She moved to Florida and retired with money in the bank.

A widow, Zellman, 66, placed a personal ad in a newspaper for seniors. She described herself as tall and slender, financially and emotionally secure. Seeking gentleman of the same, she wrote.

A man named Gregory DiDonato dialed her up. Zellman would never let men pick her up at her house for first dates; but DiDonato was so charming and so nice, she let him come get her. They went to T-Bone's for a scotch and water.

"Oh, honey, I have a lot of years on you," she told DiDonato, who is about 15 years her junior. "And he said, 'Oh. that's nothing. I like older women.' He seemed very nice and polite," Zellman said.

The couple started a romantic relationship.

DiDonato was dapper and well-coiffed. Blue eyes and long eyelashes. Expensive clothes and manicured nails. A wad of bills clutched in a money clip.

He "threw money around like water," offering big tips whenever they went out, Zellman said.

He told Zellman he owned racing horses that made buckets of money.

" 'They're the best,' he said," Zellman said. "He told me these horses were champions. He came across as a very successful businessman loaded with horses here and horses there."

And when he asked Zellman to invest in those racing horses, she agreed. When he asked for money to start a pizza business in Safety Harbor, she said, she handed it over.

Zellman later became suspicious. She discovered that DiDonato didn't own any horses. The pizza business never happened. DiDonato, meanwhile, abruptly left Florida and headed to New Jersey.

Most of the money Zellman had cobbled together in 30 years of work was gone. Zellman thinks DiDonato, who spent a lot of time at the race track, gambled it all away. She reported what happened to authorities.

"I worked so hard for that money," Zellman said Wednesday.

On Friday, authorities extradited DiDonato to Florida to face a charge of scheming to defraud. He was booked into the Pinellas County Jail, then released Tuesday after posting $25,000 bail. His arrest came after a financial crimes investigation by the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's Office.

DiDonato could not be reached Wednesday. A message left at his mother's home in New Jersey was not returned. His mother said she hadn't seen him in three weeks.

Zellman said DiDonato furthered the ruse by taking her to a farm in Ocala to see racing horses, which he claimed he partially owned. One of the horses took a liking to Zellman, which DiDonato said was a good omen, she said.

One time, DiDonato said he had been robbed of all his money at the race track. He told Zellman that if he didn't get some money, he wouldn't be able to feed the horses and would lose them, she said.

She forked over $3,900.

"I wouldn't loan a guy a dime. I'm very suspicious. But he was so convincing and told me I was going to be so rich," Zellman said. "He put on this act with all his fancy clothes and fancy talk. I thought he was going to help me out."

Zellman let him move into her Clearwater home after they had been seeing each other for about two months. He asked her to marry him, but she refused. She was getting worried about her money.

When she pressed him, DiDonato told her he had friends in the mob and was "untraceable."

"He was trying to scare me," Zellman said.

In actuality, DiDonato is a court reporter in New Jersey.

Zellman said she hasn't talked to DiDonato in more than a year. He had offered to pay her back $500 per month.

"I said, 'It's $34,000.' I said, 'That is not enough. I'm not going to live that long,' " she said.

Now Zellman lives on $800 per month in Social Security. She is worried about her future.

"I want my money back," she said. "I worked so hard for it. I took care of people who were sick. I saved and saved. I saved all my life so when I retired I wouldn't be destitute. And he got it all."

-- Chris Tisch can be reached at 445-4156 or tisch@sptimes.com .

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