BAD ROMANCE

Gym Manager Conned ‘Black-ish’ Actress Jenifer Lewis Out of Thousands in Online Romance Scam

The 57-year-old admitted he tricked four women, including actress Jenifer Lewis, into handing over nearly $400,000.

California man Antonio Mariot Wilson, a 57-year-old who also went by the aliases Dr. Tony Mariot and Brice Carrington, pleaded guilty on Friday to orchestrating an online romance scheme conning four women, including Black-ish actress Jenifer Lewis, into investing nearly $400,000 into his sham companies. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in L.A. said that, between mid-2015 and mid-2018, Wilson began romantic relationships with four women. He met Lewis at a gym where he worked as the manager, and he met the other women on Bumble and other dating apps. During the relationships, he convinced them to invest in his sound design and software companies, often using elaborate materials to make the companies look legit. He used the money to pay his rent, credit card debt, and buy luxury items. “To create a false impression of legitimacy and prestige, Wilson falsely claimed to be a Navy SEAL, an Oxford University graduate, and an Oxford professor teaching biblical antiquities at UCLA,” prosecutors said in a news release.