Monday 19 December 2016

Notorious Conwoman's £56,000 Dating Site Charity Swindle

A notorious conwoman cheated three men she wooed via an online dating site out of over £56,000 they thought was a charitable contribution for luxury foreign trips and bargain computers and phones.

Neelam Desai, 36, of Beulah Grove, Croydon used a false identity to pose as a charity fundraiser for homeless children during the sixteen-month scam.

The first victim says was left feeling “suicidal” and “depressed” after losing approximately £36,000 and was forced out of business as his finances dipped.

The second man lost approximately £3,400 at the same time his mother was dying from cancer and asked in his victim impact statement: “Are these the actions of a decent human being?”

The third victim lost around £17,000 and complained of his “emotional and financial loss.”

She pleaded guilty to seven counts of fraud by false representation between December, 2012 and April 16, 2014.

Prosecutor Mr. Martin Goudie told Croydon Crown Court last Friday that Desai posed as a pharmacist working at Chelsea & Westminster Hospital on Asian dating site shade.com

She convinced the victims they could buy cut-price luxury electronic goods such as iPhones and iPads, which had been donated to her charity.

The men also financed discounted non-existent holidays to New York, Monte Carlo and Barbados.

The court agreed Desai has no assets after squandering all the money and a nominal £1.00 compensation order will be made on sentencing.

She never met any of the men face to face or properly identified herself. “The picture she provided on the internet was not a picture of her.” 

Desai received 30 months imprisonment for a £230,000 travel agency fraud in May, 2014 and was released on home curfew in April, 2015.

In February, 2010 received nine month suspended sentence for securing loans on her mother’s home behind her back.

Desai says she got involved with a man and together they lived a criminal lifestyle until her imprisonment.

She insists she has not offended since her release.

Judge Deborah Charles will sentence Desai on December 20.

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