A FRAUDSTER who conned a nurse and a TV personality out of thousands of pounds is at the centre of a new ITV documentary.
The former Southend United youth player was jailed after posing as a Premier League star. Here’s what we know about Medi Abalimba.
Abalimba, 34, was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo and relocated to the UK at the age of five.
It’s known that he fled to London with his family due to escalating tensions in Congo.
Raised in London, he initially fell in with a problematic crowd, but his life took a positive turn when his football talents were recognised.
At one point in his career, Abalimba was a rising football star, earning approximately £20,000 weekly at Derby County.
He even had trials at Manchester United, Manchester City, and Liverpool.
In 2009, he joined Derby County for £1.2million and also played for clubs such as Oldham Athletic, Southend United, Fulham, and Crystal Palace.
However, frequent injuries prevented him from achieving football superstardom.
By 2012, his career had declined to the point where he signed with Farnborough Town, earning £300 a week and supplementing his income by working part-time at a taxi firm.
Despite his reduced circumstances, Abalimba continued to live a lavish lifestyle by impersonating Chelsea player Gael Kakuta.
He blamed his fall from the higher leagues to “lack of discipline and commitment.”
In his earlier years, Abalimba played two seasons as a youth player for Southend United, starting in 2008, after being scouted for the team.
He appeared in 34 games in total, although there was a misrepresentation about his age at the time; Southend United thought he was 16 when he was actually nearly 20.
After being sentenced to four years and two months in prison in 2021 for his criminal activities, he was reportedly released early this year, but there has been no further information on his situation since then.
According to The Athletic, in a statement to ITV, Abalimba contested some of the claims made in a documentary about him but acknowledged that the end of his football career led to deceitful behaviours.
He expressed regret, stating, “The way I dealt with falling short of my dreams wasn’t right. I sincerely apologise to everyone I lied to and used.”
As of now, Abalimba’s current whereabouts remain a mystery.
Abalimba’s desire to emulate the lavish lifestyles of more successful footballers led him down a criminal path.
By 2013, he had already been handed a six-month suspended sentence and ordered to complete 150 hours of community service for fraud-related offences.
However, in 2014, his criminal activities escalated.
Abalimba broke into lockers at a private health club in London, where he was a member.
He photographed credit card details and used them to fund an extravagant lifestyle.
Impersonating Kakuta, he visited luxury bars and hotels, incurring massive bills which he either left unpaid, had others pay, or settled with stolen credit cards.
His extravagant spending included almost £15,000 at high-end places like the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Hyde Park, Corinthia Hotel in Whitehall, and Millennium Hotel Knightsbridge.
He also took four women from Manchester on a £1,100 helicopter tour over London and housed them in an £800-a-night mansion in Berkshire, falsely claiming it was his.
He even duped another woman into renting him a Range Rover using her credit card.
Abalimba was eventually arrested after a lavish shopping spree at Selfridges in Manchester, where he spent over £11,000 using various credit cards.
When a limousine driver he sent to collect the items raised suspicion, store security and subsequently the police intervened
They managed to trace him to a rented mansion in Ascot, Berkshire, under Kakuta’s name.
In October 2014, Abalimba was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to three fraud charges, taking a Range Rover without consent, and making off without paying for £104 worth of petrol.
More offences were considered in his sentencing.
With no assets or cash, there was no possibility of financial restitution to his victims or recovery of the estimated £163,000 he had spent.
While incarcerated at HMP Moorland in 2016, Abalimba manipulated a vulnerable 50-year-old agency nurse, starting a relationship through which she smuggled a phone into the prison.
The relationship was uncovered, and the nurse was sentenced to 20 months in jail for misconduct in a public office and bringing a mobile phone into prison.
Sheffield Crown Court heard she was a divorced mother of two who had fallen victim to a “confidence trickster.”
Abalimba is a narcissist and is using the skills he’s learned to groom victims.
Anna Rowe, Catch the Catfish founder
Abalimba was arrested again in September 2019 for fraud at Kadie’s Club in Mayfair, London.
By then, he had begun a relationship with Claire Merry, the ex-wife of Arsenal star Thierry Henry.
While in jail, he maintained daily phone calls with Claire, claiming he was on military service in Kuwait.
Claire reported hearing background noises “consistent with a military operation.”
However, upon his supposed return in March 2020, Claire discovered unauthorised transactions amounting to £50,000 from her bank account.
In September 2021, Abalimba was sentenced to an additional four years and two months after admitting to 15 counts of fraud, using a forged Illinois driving licence, and a counterfeit debit card.
His deceptive techniques are likened by experts to other notorious catfishers, including Simon Leviev, the Tinder Swindler, and John Keady, who conned women out of £70,000 by posing as an ex-SAS soldier in romance scams.
Anna Rowe is the founder of website Catchthecatfish.com and co-founder of romance fraud think tank Love Said.
“Abalimba is a narcissist and is using the skills he’s learned to groom victims. These catfishers know how to manipulate,” she explains.
“Research shows there are correlations between coercive control and the techniques that scammers like Abalimba are using.
“It is the same behaviour. Some people think coercive control is about feeling threatened by violence, but it comes in many guises.”
In 2018, Abalimba was released from jail and the following year he met his next victim.
In April 2019, Love Island star Georgia Steel was shocked to discover that the attractive, ostensibly accomplished man she had been dating was actually a conman.
When her manager revealed the truth, telling her, “He’s a convicted fraudster,” and “He’s been in prison,” Georgia was unable to grasp the reality of the situation.
![A Collective Media Production for ITVX..THE FOOTBALL FRAUDSTER.Available on ITVX from Thursday 9 November 2023..Pictured: Love Island star Georgia Steel..When his promising football career ends, Medi Abalimba turns to an astonishing life of crime. This brand new film for the ITVX Swindles & Cons season tracks what followed as the fraudster poses as stars from the world of sport and business to scam multiple unsuspecting victims. ..We hear from Medis victims, including Love Island star Georgia Steel, revealing how this accomplished fraudster earned their trust, before betraying them in the most devastating ways...Forensic psychologist Dr Donna Youngs provides context and insight into what might have driven the escalation in Medis crimes and how easy it was to fall under his spell. ..The film shows how, over a criminal career spanning two decades, Abalimba develops his MO - coming up with bigger and more elaborate scams, featuring multiple personas and targets, all while living the life of a millionaire with designer clothes, flash cars, helicopters and five star hotels. ..(C) Collective Media Production ..For further information please contact Peter Gray.Mob 07831460662 / peter.gray@itv.com..This photograph is (C) *** and can only be reproduced for editorial purposes directly in connection with the programme or event mentioned herein...Once made available by ITV plc Picture Desk, this photograph can be reproduced once only up until the transmission [TX] date and no reproduction fee will be charged...Any subsequent usage may incur a fee...This photograph must not be manipulated [excluding basic cropping] in a manner which alters the visual appearance of the person photographed deemed detrimental or inappropriate by ITV plc Picture Desk...This photograph must not be syndicated to any other company, publication or website, or permanently archived, without the express written permission of ITV Picture Desk...Full Terms and conditions are available on the website www.itv.com/presscentre/itvpictures/terms.](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/the_football_fraudster_04jpg-JS858374690.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
The disillusionment came after a six-week romance with the man she knew as US government agent Miguel Johnson.
In reality, Abalimba had already served a four-year sentence for fraud.
Their relationship, which was never intimate, began to show cracks when they were photographed together outside a London bar.
“He was adamant he couldn’t be photographed with me, and he said his job was the reason he didn’t have social media,” Georgia recounted.
When the pictures surfaced, Abalimba became anxious, claiming he didn’t want them published to avoid compromising his supposed security-sensitive position.
However, when journalists identified him in the photos and they were published online, Georgia’s manager conveyed the grim truth.
Unbeknown to her, Abalimba had racked up approximately £32,000 on her credit cards.
I didn’t realise then, but I was vulnerable. I was getting lots of attention and was away from the people I trusted. He exploited that.
Georgia Steel
Georgia, now 25, expressed her astonishment: “It was a complete shock. I didn’t know who this person I’d let into my life was or what he was capable of.”
Abalimba had first approached her at Reign nightclub in London’s West End, charming her with a smooth American accent, compliments, and a fabricated story about being an ex-serviceman working in a secretive role for the US government.
Intrigued, Georgia was drawn in when he confessed ignorance of her reality TV fame, which she found appealing as it suggested his interest was genuine.
Over six weeks, their dates included visits to upscale clubs and restaurants, and they were often transported in his chauffeur-driven Range Rover. He even met her family.
Reflecting on the experience, Georgia believes she was deliberately targeted due to her vulnerability: “He was looking for targets. I was 20 and living alone in London, as my family were in Doncaster.
“I didn’t realise then, but I was vulnerable. I was getting lots of attention and was away from the people I trusted. He exploited that.”
The ITVX documentary The Football Fraudster unpicks his crimes, interviewing some of his high-profile victims and exploring the opinions of a forensic psychologist, Dr Donna Youngs.
She provides insight into the possible drive behind Abalimba’s crimes and how so many came to fall under his spell.
The Footballer Fraudster airs on ITV at 9pm, Wednesday, 3 July.
