A FORMER Derby County footballer who masqueraded as a Premier League star to maintain his celebrity life of champagne and shopping sprees has been jailed for four years.
Medi Abalimba, who admitted multiple fraud offences, has had stints as a professional footballer with Derby County, Oldham Athletic, Southend United, Fulham and Crystal Palace and at one time even commanded a transfer fee in excess of £1m.
Manchester Crown Court heard that midfielder Medi Abalimba, 25, was so ashamed at his career at top-flight clubs foundering due to injury that he falsely claimed to be multi-millionaire Chelsea midfielder Gael Kakuta to get drink and clothes on credit.
Abalimba, pretending to be Kakuta's agent, would ring a venue in advance, advising them of the imminent arrival of the elite sports star, often also requesting discretion. Compromised credit card details would then be used to pay for goods and services.
Abalimba, of Burton Street, London, who was a Derby County trainee between July 2010 and January 2011, used his scam across the UK to stay in boutique hotels, eat in expensive restaurants, order designer clothes and travel everywhere in chauffeur driven limousines.
In all cases the businesses have lost the money as the credit card companies have charged the costs back to them.
In June 2014, Abalimba visited a nightclub in Manchester and throughout the course of the evening he ordered champagne worth £2,600.
At the end of the night, he claimed he had left his wallet in a limousine and told staff that he had his credit card details on his mobile phone. The payment, which was made using compromised credit card details, was authorised and Abalimba then pre-paid more than £2,000, telling staff he would return the following day, which he duly did, again quaffing champagne with friends before leaving in a chauffeur-driven Bentley GT.
It was not until several weeks later that the fraud was discovered by the true card holder.
In early July 2014, Abalimba visited Selfridges in the Trafford Centre, Manchester. He chose more than £20,000 worth of clothing - even practising his football skills inside while browsing - but could not pay with his credit card due to it being deliberately damaged. He later telephoned the store and made a payment over the phone, again using compromised credit card details. Just as a chauffeur was sent to collect the goods, a store detective became suspicious and withheld the items.
He even maintained the pretence in order to woo women. While in West Yorkshire he befriended a woman and convinced her he was Gael Kakuta, stating that he didn't want to use his credit cards as he wasn't supposed to be in the UK and his agent wouldn't be happy. Promising to pay her back he used her credit cards to rack up a £4,633 bill at a spa and also used her card to hire a Range Rover at a cost of £2,397.
On another occasion he took four girls from Manchester on an £1,100 helicopter tour over London before having them stay with him at an £800 a night rented mansion in Berkshire, which he claimed was his home. Greater Manchester Police tracked him down to the mansion and with the help of Thames Valley Police, he was arrested. He was transported to Manchester and admitted all the offences on interview, telling officers he regularly broke into lockers at a sports club in Camden and, using master keys, stole and used his phone to photograph members' credit card details.
He was subsequently interviewed by detectives from Derbyshire, West Yorkshire, Scotland and London. In London he ran up huge bills during hotel stays, including: £7,000 at the Corinthia hotel; £3,000 at Mandarin, £2,000 at Millennium Hotel and £1,400 at Bulgari Hotel. He also enjoyed drinks at several nightclubs and restaurants including the Gilgamesh, where he ran up a bill of £8,000 for 20 of his friends. In Manchester he deceived hotels including the Park Inn, Worsley Marriott and the Great John St Hotel. He also attempted to book £4,206 worth of rooms at The Midland but was thwarted by extra security checks by staff there. The value of the frauds that Abalimba was charged with amount to approximately £53,000. A further 19 similar offences, to the value of a further £88,000, were also taken into consideration. He was also wanted for failing to appear at Islesworth Crown Court in June 2014, for attempting to fraudulently obtain a £9,000 Rolex watch from a jeweller, taking the total value of the frauds committed to £163,000.
With no assets or cash to his name there is no opportunity for financial compensation to be paid to any of his victims.
Sergeant Adam Cronshaw said: "Having spoken with many of the victims in this case it appears that Abalimba is a charming and charismatic individual who was able to call on his previous football experience and the fact he bears some resemblance to the real Gael Kakuta to deceive them.
"He was able to trick most people he came across and grew in confidence the longer the charade continued. He became so skilled in lies and deceit that his character went from being plausible to unquestionable.
"Abalimba told us that many of his victims treated him so differently because they thought he was a celebrity footballer. Unfortunately this trust and goodwill was misplaced.
"While I have some sympathy for the way his promising career was curtailed, there can be no excuses for the persistent and deliberate frauds that have left numerous people and businesses out of pocket.
"I'm glad we were able to catch him and prevent further loss to other potential victims as he showed no signs of halting his activity. I hope more businesses are now aware of this scam and have the necessary security measures in place to prevent similar occurrences."
