Yahoo Finance Love Island’s Georgia Steel’s ex ‘targeted Thierry Henry’s former wife in £168,000 luxury hotel fraud’
A former footballer is accused of plundering the savings of Thierry Henry’s model ex-wife in a £160,000 luxury hotel fraud spree.
Medi Abalimba, the ex-boyfriend of Love Island contestant Georgia Steel, is accused splashing out on five-star stays at top London hotels with other people’s money.
It is said he scammed Claire Henry out of more than £50,000 when they were dating earlier this year, plundering her Coutts bank account to bankroll a stay at the prestigious Corinthia Hotel in Westminster.
Abalimba is also said to have used Ms Henry’s bank card to spend £839 at the Al Habtoor Polo Resort in Dubai.
The model - also known as Nicole Merry - is the mother of Arsenal legend Thierry Henry’s first child, and she reportedly received a £10 million settlement when their five-year marriage ended in 2008.
As well as the alleged scam on Ms Henry, Abalimba, 32, is said to have run up a £104,000 bill at the Rosewood Hotel in Holborn by fraudulent means.
He is accused of posing as a wealthy client to convince a concierge to commit to lavish spending on his behalf.
And Abalimba is also accused of adapting another man’s credit card for more than £10,000 of spending at the five-star Rosewood, using the alias ‘Miguel Gonzalez’.
Abalimba briefly dated Yorkshire-born Ms Steel in 2019, after her appearance as a contestant on the ITV2 hit show Love Island.
He had a previous career as a footballer, playing in the youth ranks at Crystal Palace and Fulham before signing for Southend United and Derby County, but his sporting ambitions were cut short by injury.
Abalimba was charged with fraud in late-March and appeared from custody at Wood Green crown court this morning.
The alleged offending is from September 2020 until March 24 this year, when it is said he was caught with a forged Illinois driving licence and a debit card for use in fraud.
In the charges involving Ms Henry, it said Abalimba told her he “had access to substantial funds from which he could reimburse her for expenditure she made on his behalf”, before allegedly plundering her Coutts bank account.
Abalimba is said to have made a string of payments “to the Rosewood Hotel using a credit card belonging to Simon Belofsky which had been tampered with, to remove the name ‘Belofsky’ and replace it with the name ‘Miguel Gonzalez’”.
Between February 19 and March 25, Abalimba is accused of carrying out a fraud totaling £104,911 at the Rosewood Hotel.
It is said he made misleading statement that he “had access to sufficient funds to enable him to engage Mark Bilton as his concierge and reimburse him for all the expenses that he would be asked to meet on his behalf”.
Abalimba, smartly dressed in a light blue suit and tie, appeared via videolink from HMP Belmarsh for Wednesday’s hearing, facing 13 counts of fraud, possession of an identity document with improper intention, and possession of articles for use in fraud.
He did not enter any pleas, as Judge Noel Lucas QC adjourned the case until August 4.
Abalimba, from Camden, was remanded in custody until the next hearing.
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