(WSVN) - He’s a South Florida felon known for dating many women and passing bad checks. But now, there is a new twist to his story. 7’s Brian Entin investigates.
Ilene Stevens was looking for love, but ended up broke.
Ilene Stevens, dated felon: “Financially, I’m done. For a long time.”
Ilene says she met this man, Frank Amanti, on an online dating website. He looked charming and rich.
Ilene Stevens: “He knows how to get into your world. Things that make you happy.”
Ilene dated Amanti for five months and says he talked her into buying BMWs, a Mercedes and electronics.
Ilene Stevens: “I should have known better. I’m not a stupid person. I was just in a bad place probably, and he played on weak.”
Ilene wishes she knew then what she knows now.
Amanti is a career criminal with convictions on 56 charges from grand theft to battery. He has been in and out of prison, and there’s plenty of women just like Ilene.
Woman 1: “He wanted to marry me!”
Woman 2: “And he asked me, do you have credit cards?”
Woman 3: “The relationship, he was trying to move it very, very fast.”
All the women said Amanti told them he just returned from serving in the military. And all said he wrote them bad checks.
And that’s what brings us back to Ilene. This time, with a new twist.
Ilene Stevens: “And then he wrote me a bad check for $200,000 on a dead person’s account.”
The name on the check is Carol Brewer, Amanti’s ex-girlfriend.
The 47-year-old woman passed away in December, months after she left 7News this voicemail.
Carol Brewer, voicemail: “My name is Carol Brewer. I’m calling on behalf of a Frank Amanti. And I wanted to speak in regards to him.”
Brian Entin: “That’s her?”
Brewer’s daughter: “Yes.”
Carol’s daughter is so scared of Amanti, she won’t show her face.
Brian Entin: “Is this definitely your mom’s check?”
Brewer’s daughter: “This is my mother’s check, yes.”
Brian Entin: “What about the handwriting?”
Brewer’s daughter: “Not her signature, no. It’s not her signature at all.”
She says, just like the other women, her mom was under Amanti’s spell.
Brewer’s daughter: “He was putting all this stuff in her name and selling it. Getting her to get it, and then he would sell it. She had no idea. She had no idea.”
Doctors say she died of a massive heart attack.
Brewer’s daughter: “It’s just really hard to talk about.”
Last time we saw Amanti was in October.
Judge: “Allegedly, you violated probation.”
He was in a Broward courtroom for not paying back thousands owed to a victim in another bad check case.
Frank Amanti: “I just got out of prison doing eight years. How am I supposed to have money?”
He first agreed to an interview.
Frank Amanti: “That’s all I got to say. You have a great day.”
Producer: “Wait!”
But walked away.
These women want to warn others.
Brewer’s daughter: “Don’t let anybody that you don’t know tell you that they love you. He was telling my mother that he loved her in a week.”
Ilene Stevens: “Run really fast. Don’t even give him one second of your time.”
There’s now a warrant out for Frank Amanti’s arrest after he failed to show up for court in February. As for his latest ex-girlfriend, Ilene Stevens — she’s filed a police report and is hoping authorities will get involved.
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