Man Accused of Bilking 9 Women Heads for Altar

Joe (Mac) Duffy says his life in the fast lane came to a stop the night he was arrested last November. The man Newport Beach police accuse of bilking rich, beautiful women out of thousands of dollars was wearing a black $1,000 Armani coat, a Movado watch and $800 crocodile shoes.

But on Thursday, the 28-year-old devilishly handsome, self-described “pro” golfer announced that he and his 41-year-old bride-to-be, Sylvianne Lestringant, were jetting off to be married in Las Vegas--in part so she can’t be compelled to testify against him.

“He’s going to court tomorrow and we’re trying to convince people that this shouldn’t be a criminal trial but a civil trial,” Lestringant said. “I’m doing this so that I won’t have to testify against him.”

Duffy has pleaded innocent to nine counts of felony grand theft and one count of perjury based on police complaints from at least nine other women who allege that he stole more than $100,000 from them.

During an interview Thursday before he and Lestringant were to board a flight from John Wayne Airport, Duffy said he “had borrowed” the money and never intended to keep it as police charge.

Duffy acknowledged, however, that he lied when he told a series of beautiful single women in Orange County that he was a stockbroker with an international clientele.

“I think I had a life style, well, do you know that one famous golfer once said, ‘I didn’t want to be a millionaire. I just wanted to live like one,’ ” Duffy said.

Lestringant she said she is convinced that Duffy loves her, even though she knows that he allegedly bilked the women out of cash and fancy cars to help pay for an extravagant life style.

“I do believe him and I want to help him now. It’s that important to me,” Lestringant said. “He and I have discussed this, we’ve had long talks. I’m going to help change him and change his life style so that he won’t do this again.”

Ironically, it was Lestringant who led police to Duffy’s door. A single mother of two daughters who walks with a cane as a result of a car accident, she had entrusted him with $16,000 from her savings.

In December, when he failed to pay her back, she hired a private investigator who collected the names of other women with similar stories. The investigator turned his findings over to police.

But now, Lestringant said, she has changed her mind. She wants to marry Duffy, who admitted he needs “some help,” including therapy to control his desire for “material things.”

“He’s not like the police say he is at all,” Lestringant said. “He wants to change, he wants to pay back the women.”

The white 1969 Rolls-Royce sitting in her garage is proof, she said, of Duffy’s reformed life. She said he has since given her title to the car, which he had owned, as part of a pay-back agreement.

Police, however, remained unconvinced.

“Mr. Duffy was originally arrested based on a number of complaints we received from victims, who claimed that he had lied to them, and obtained numerous thousands of dollars for non-existent business ventures,” said Newport Beach Police Sgt. Andrew Gonis.

“As a result of our investigation, there was sufficient reasonable cause to believe that felonies were committed,” Gonis said.

Duffy, a native of Scotland, was arrested at the office of Tom Martin, the investigator hired by Lestringant.

According to Duffy, he was “set up” by Martin and overzealous police officers who had no evidence against him.

“Anybody who knows me knows that I borrow money to help support my golfing career,” he said, adding that he has had minor success on the pro golf circuit, including being a top qualifier for the PGA tour in two tournaments in 1982 and 1987.

Duffy said he has returned an $18,000 gold Rolex watch and $2,000 in cash to a woman to whom he owes $38,000.

“There’s no question in my mind that I’m going to pay these ladies back,” he said.

Free on $25,000 bail, Duffy faces a pretrial hearing in Municipal Court in Newport Beach today.

“What I mean is I want to start playing pro golf again. I don’t know what you would call it, but I had a life style of being a playboy. . . . I did a little conning here and there. But I’m hitting golf balls every day now.”

“I suppose the word gigolo isn’t totally out of the question,” Duffy said. “But what good does it do if I go to jail? They won’t be able to get their money back.”