‘Sweetheart Swindler' arrested in Tennessee, also facing charges in Maryland

SILVER SPRING, Md. (FOX 5 DC) - A South Carolina man who was wanted for swindling over $80,000 out of a Georgia woman has been captured. Police say he's been committing crimes in several states, including Maryland.

John Martin Hill's M-O is the same. Police say the 34-year-old meets women on dating sites, earns their trust and then tries to make off with their cash.

Hill was arrested in Franklin, Tennessee, for defrauding a woman for more than $80,000 after meeting her on Match.com and convincing her to get married just a week later. He was found hiding under a hotel conference room table when officers approached him.

"Our victim tells us that the suspect told her that not only was he a millionaire but he also needed $80,000 -- more than $80,000 in cash from her -- to go toward the purchase of a home and the furnishings to go inside the home," said the police.

It doesn't stop there. Police say Hill has committed similar crimes in New Jersey, Delaware, Virginia and Maryland.

According to court documents, Hill has several aliases.

"Gregory W. Hill" is wanted in Anne Arundel County on felony extortion charges as well as attempted theft. Meanwhile, "Gregory Davis Dutton" is wanted in Montgomery County on attempted fraud charges.

A woman FOX 5 spoke to Wednesday wanted to remain anonymous but says she managed to make it out of her relationship with Hill with her pockets full.

"We met on Match.com. We dated for like, uh, a good solid month," one of Hill's alleged victims told FOX 5 by phone. "He was trying to convince me that he actually had funds and I was like, 'Okay, you cough up the money then I'll loan you some,' but when the money was given to me then... the... I guess the check bounced."

The woman says she met Hill through Match.com in April 2017. Hill told her he was in law school and needed money to take the bar exam. She says she gave Hill $4,500 in early June of that year. Hill then gave her a check for the money a couple of weeks later but it bounced, and so did Hill -- taking off with her cash.

"It makes me very angry that no one has been able to actually keep him in jail," said the woman.

Hill is now behind bars in Tennessee on a $500,000 bond -- an outcome this victim hopes lasts longer than his relationships.

"You knew you were wrong. You knew that you were preying on women and you deserve to go down for it," said the woman.

Georgia authorities are working on Hill's extradition. There has been no word yet on any kind of extradition in Maryland.