A jury has been selected in the trial of a man accused of promising marriage, then stealing his would-be wives' money and threatening their lives.

Paul Francois, also known as Clement Francois, now 57, was arrested in August 2009, accused of stealing $387,000 from Rose Marie Anglade, then 50, of Miramar, and Sheila Brissault, then 43, of Elmont, N.Y.

The Broward Sheriff's Office said Francois, whom it called the "Sweetheart Swindler," met Anglade in June 2007 when she was vacationing in Florida. They continued to communicate, and he convinced her to open a joint bank account, in which she put all her life savings, and move to Miramar to be with him, BSO said.

Anglade told police that in October 2007, she fund that the account had a negative balance, and Francois told her he took the cash so she wouldn't change her mind and move back to New York, BSO said. When Anglade asked Francois again for her money in April 2008, he punched her in the face, BSO said. She told police she didn't want him to be arrested because she was afraid she would never see her money again.

Francois is accused of stealing money from Brissault, as well. BSO said the two met in June 2007, and Francois, claiming to be a real estate agent, convinced Brissault to come to Florida with $50,000 as a down payment on a home, according to investigators.

Francois asked Brissault to marry him, convinced her to apply for a $50,000 line of credit on her New York home and got her to open a joint bank account with him, BSO said. She claims he told her to sell her New York home and move to Florida, and she found out he had taken all the money from the joint account, according to investigators.

Brissault threatened to take Francois to court, and BSO said Francois told her he had a gun, claimed he had killed other people in the past and threatened to kill her and her children, BSO said.

Francois was arrested on charges of organized scheme to defraud and grand theft.