Kiwi loses nearly $1 million in love scam

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A New Zealand man is out of pocket by nearly $1 million and has had to sell his home, car and assets for the love of a woman who may never have existed.

He is one of 11 single men claiming an Australian dating agency pressured them to pay exorbitant amounts of money to find them the loves of their lives, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

The True Love Corp (TLC) promised to help the men find a perfect partner but instead exploited their vulnerability, pressured them to pay exorbitant sums to meet women, a court has heard.

The New Zealand man, who was not been identified, was matched up with "Angie" and the pair spoke frequently on the phone and talked about marriage.

When the man to travelled to Australia for the wedding, she phoned to say she had had to go to America where her daughter had been in a car crash.

When he phoned TLC for a refund, a woman identifying herself as Hollie Veall, the director of TLC, answered.

He recognised her voice as that of "Angie", the NSW Supreme Court heard.

It heard that all up, the New Zealand man paid out A$683,000 ($923,000)

The 11 men include one who is deaf, two with intellectual disabilities and another who has been hounded by debt collectors and tried to kill himself.

They were promised nights out with Penthouse Pets and three of the men paid thousands to meet women on holiday in Fiji - trips that never went ahead.

Justice Terence Buddin said many clients were desperately lonely, making them susceptible to the extravagant claims.

The NSW Department of Fair Trading took action against Ms Veall and Zivko Dimitrijevski, another former director, over alleged fair trading and trade practices breaches.

The pair were not in court and are now bankrupt.

Last week, Justice Buddin found TLC had engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct and unconscionable conduct from 2003 and 2009, and Ms Veall and Mr Dimitrijevski had been knowingly concerned in or a party to the breaches.

Consultants used "emotionally manipulative language to pressure consumers to pay and belittled and humiliated the clients", Justice Buddin said.

Money was debited from clients' accounts without their authorisation, a former TLC bookkeeper said.

TLC was banned in 2003 from providing introduction services to Queensland residents and went into administration in 2009.

The court will consider the issue of restitution when the case resumes later this year.

- NZPA