Serial conman who posed as Premier League star swindled Love Islander and Thierry Henry ex-wife

Lavish lifestyle: Medi Abalimba during a helicopter ride
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A serial conman who once posed as a Premier League footballer is back behind bars for extravagant frauds on a Love Island contestant and Thierry Henry’s ex-wife.

Medi Abalimba, 32, swindled model Claire Henry in a spree of offending involving tens of thousands of pounds spent on luxury hotel stays and top-end vehicles.

The conman ran up a £104,000 bill at the Rosewood Hotel in Holborn after convincing a concierge that he was a wealthy client and doctored another man’s bank card to drain his account of funds.

In 2014 Abalimba was first revealed as a “confidence fraudster” who had posed as Chelsea’s Gael Kakuta as he splashed out on a luxury life of champagne, helicopter rides, and fast cars with stolen credit cards.

He targeted Love Island star Georgia Steel in 2019
Ian West/PA Archive/PA Images

He targeted Love Island star Georgia Steel in 2019, draining her bank account when they were dating with a series of purchases than landed him with a 23-month prison sentence.

Shortly after being set free from jail, Abalimba started to swindle Ms Henry by convincing her to make a string of payments for him between September 2020 and March this year.

Abalimba appeared via videolink from HMP Belmarsh to Wood Green crown court on Wednesday to admit the latest fraud charges that he faces, and now faces a lengthy spell behind bars.

Arrest: former professional footballer Medi Abalimba at the time of his arrest

“It looks as though he came straight from prison and started committing offence again”, said Judge Barbara Mensah, as she adjourned the sentencing hearing until September 29.

“He is going to face a substantial sentence.”

Abalimba playing in the youth ranks at Crystal Palace and Fulham before signing for Southend United and Derby County, and had been earning £4,000-a-week before his sporting ambitions were cut short by injury.

Unable to give up the high-rolling lifestyle, he stole bank cards from lockers at a health spa in Camden to bankroll a spending spree.

He convinced staff at a London club to let him run up a £25,000 bar tab on Cristal champagne due to his supposed status as a Premier League star.

Abalimba ran up a £12,000 bill at three luxury London hotels, spent £11,000 on limousines, and took four women on a £1,100 helicopter tour across the capital to an £800-a-night rented mansion in Berkshire that he falsely claimed to own.

After being caught and jailed for four years in 2014, the conman managed to convince a prison nurse to shower him with gifts including a phone, a photo of herself and a saucy pair of knickers. She was later jailed for 20 months over the illicit relationship, saying her vulnerabilities had been taken advantage of by Abalimba.

Medi Abalimba, 32, swindled model Claire Henry in a spree of offending involving tens of thousands of pounds
AFP via Getty Images

Abalimba targeted reality star Ms Steel in March and April 2019 during their brief relationship, using her bank card to make a string of purchases for himself. He was arrested at the Kadie’s Club in Mayfair over that scam and was jailed last year at Snaresbrook crown court.

He has now admitted used Ms Henry’s bank card to spend more than £50,000 at the prestigious Corinthia Hotel in Westminster between January and March this year, as well as running up a £839 bill at the Al Habtoor Polo Resort in Dubai.

Abalimba adapted another man’s credit card for more than £10,000 of spending at the Rosewood hotel, using the alias ‘Miguel Gonzalez’, and convinced concierge Mark Bilton that he would eventually pay for £104,911 of spending.

He was in possession of a forged US driving licence when he was arrested on March 24, the court heard.

Copycat: Medi Abalimba

Abalimba, from Camden, admitted 15 counts of fraud, possession of an identity document with improper intention, and possession of an article for use in fraud.

He has been recalled to prison to serve the remainder of his sentence for the fraud on Ms Steel, and will then face a further jail term for the latest offences.

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