2009-05-01T05:18:00.000-07:00

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."

The day before he was to go to court, Joe (Mac) Duffy, a handsome Scot accused of bilking more than $100,000 from rich, unsuspecting women around the globe, married one of his alleged victims so that Orange County prosecutors couldn't force her to testify.

Sylvianne Lestringant, 41, a woman 13 years Duffy's senior who walks with a cane, said she loves him and forgives him. On Thursday, in an interview, she told of the couple's plans to fly to Las Vegas for a quick marriage, in part so she would not have to give testimony that could incriminate Duffy.

But Duffy, a Newport Beach resident, and Lestringant, his French bride of one day, got a rude awakening Friday when a Harbor Municipal Court judge ruled that Lestringant had to testify because she is one of her husband's alleged victims. Things went from bad to worse for Duffy, a self-described professional golfer, at his pretrial hearing on grand theft charges as a parade of women in their late 30s to 50s bitterly recounted how he had conned them out of Rolex watches, fancy clothes and thousands of dollars under the pretext of investing their money on the European stock market.

Sporting tailored suits and stylish hats, the bejeweled women sat together along with nearly a dozen others who say they, too, were victimized but did not press charges because of publicity surrounding the case.

Duffy was arrested last November on complaints from at least nine women who say he stole more than $100,000 from them. At the time of his arrest, he was wearing a $1,000 Armani coat, a Movado watch and $800 crocodile shoes. In a bizarre twist, Lestringant, one of the women who had pressed charges against him, later put up $20,000 bail to keep him out of jail.

Since the investigation began, prosecutors say, they have received dozens of phone calls from around the country and Europe from other women who were allegedly swindled by Duffy.

Lestringant testified, however, that her faith is not shaken in her new husband.

"He's not the way the police say he is at all," she said. "He wants to change, he wants to pay back the women."

But other victims described Duffy as a slick con man with a variety of methods of getting money to support a lavish life style.

In the alleged scheme, the women would give Duffy a minimum of $2,000 in exchange for a 34% return on their money. None of the women asked for written receipts or verified if Duffy was actually a stockbroker.

"He was very charming, he dressed well, he drove fancy cars . . . he had such a fortune it didn't seem like he would try to steal from me," said one of the women who did not testify.

According to prosecutors, Duffy used the same ruse on a Laguna Hills woman who makes her living as a stockbroker. The woman, Sharon Butler, testified that she charged a $15,000 Rolex watch for Duffy on a credit card, and gave him another $15,000. One installment, a $10,000 check, was apparently used by Duffy to buy a 1969 Rolls-Royce, according to court testimony.

"You think you're an intelligent woman and something like this could never happen to you, but it can," Butler said, adding that Duffy convinced her to buy him the watch.

Throughout the hearing, Duffy sat impassively, dressed nattily in a charcoal gray jacket, brown tasseled loafers and black pants. He and Lestringant refused to answer questions about their marriage or other aspects of the case.

One woman, Diane Lampe, used her credit card to buy $1,500 worth shoes at a department store for Duffy, she testified.

Harbor Municipal Court Judge Christopher W. Strople ordered Duffy held over for trial on three charges of felony grand theft. He also doubled bail to $40,000 and Duffy was taken back into custody.

"The guy is a con man," Deputy Dist. Atty. Ron Cafferty told the judge in asking for higher bail. "I don't think, if his feet ever hit the streets again, that we will see him again." TAMMERLIN DRUMMOND

After standing by her husband, Joseph (Mac) Duffy, the reputed con man charged with swindling women out of their savings to lead a life of luxury, Sylvianne Lestringant had his bail revoked so she could use the money for an investment, her private investigator said Thursday.

Reclaiming her Laguna Niguel home that had backed the $40,000 bond she posted for Duffy's bail, Lestringant watched as private investigators and Orange County sheriff's deputies led him away Wednesday.

Duffy, 29, was taken to Orange County Jail. He is due for a Superior Court hearing on Monday. Prosecutors say the handsome Scotsman romanced several women in their late 30s to 50s, then talked them into giving him their money so he could invest it for them in the European stock market. But, instead of investing the funds, they say, Duffy used the money to support an extravagant lifestyle that included expensive cars, fancy clothes and high-priced watches. He is charged with grand theft.

Lestringant, 41, had put up $4,000 in cash and used her house as collateral.

Lestringant was not available for comment. However, Thomas G. Martin, a private investigator representing her who accompanied sheriff's deputies on Wednesday, said his client needed the money for investment purposes.

"She had a business opportunity that was placed before her and she needed to use that money. I think she was relieved to not have it tied up with a bail bondsman."

Martin said Duffy was taken aback when several investigators from Martin Investigative Services of Orange showed up at the Lestringant residence accompanied by two sheriff's deputies.

"He was surprised but fairly stoic," Martin said. "After the initial shock he appeared resigned, and he said that he would go without causing any problems."

Lestringant married Duffy in Las Vegas last January in order to avoid testifying against him, but those hopes were dashed when a Harbor Municipal Court judge ruled that, as an alleged victim, Lestringant must take the stand.

She was one of several women who have alleged that Duffy swindled them out of money by promising to invest their funds in the European stock market. Police have estimated that Duffy took about $100,000 from at least nine women in Orange County and in cities around the world.

Attorneys representing Duffy say that he has returned cash and several items bought with some of the money given him, including a gold Rolex watch and a 1969 white Rolls-Royce.

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