Man Gives Woman Itemised Bill to Refund Everything He Has Ever Spent on Her After She Turned Down His Marriage Offer

Single mother Marie Lacombe, 42, from Melbourne, Australia, turned down a marriage proposal from a well-to-do suitor, Bruce Dusting, 65. She got a shocker when he handed her a bill of more than £115,000 for everything he claims to have spent on her. She says they were never romantically involved.

But it seems he felt differently about their relationship, claiming she led him on to extract money from him to fund Zumba classes, shopping trips and even cosmetic surgery.

A tearful Mr Dusting told Nine Network's A Current Affair: "This Marie has just destroyed every thought of humanity that I've had for other people."

Ms Lacombe met Mr Dusting four years ago when she began teaching him dance. The pair became good friends, with Mr Dusting taking her for dinner and visiting her home regularly.

But things between them turned sour when he asked for her hand in marriage - and she turned him down.

Now he has handed her an itemised bill outlining every single penny he ever gave her or spent on her behalf, which amounts to a hefty £116,638.

Mr Dusting says the payments - of which he has kept careful records and include things like dental appointments, Tupperware and even birthday parties for her children - were all loans.

And he accuses her of playing on his emotions to get more cash out of him. On one occasion, he claims, she asked him to lend her money she needed for emergency surgery. But when he went to visit her in the hospital, he found that she had got breast implants and a tummy tuck.

Ms Lacombe tells a different story. She insists that despite one loan of AU$25,000 (£14,580), the rest was given to her out of kindness. She says much of the money he has asked her to return paid for unsolicited gifts, and she flatly denies asking him for the money for her cosmetic surgery.

Furthermore, she says that she worked as his office assistant for four years and never received a penny for her time.

"At the end of the day things took a turn for the worse when I said no to getting married to him," she said. She believes his billing her for the money is his way of getting revenge for the rejection.

Bruce Dusting