Medi Abalimba scammed thousands of pounds from his victims after posing as a Premier League footballer
A con artist known as the ‘Football Fraudster’ has been put back behind bars after fleeing the UK.
Medi Abalimba swindled thousands of pounds from his victims, which included former Arsenal striker Thierry Henry’s ex-wife and a Love Island contestant. His twisted crimes featured in a documentary that aired on ITV and Netflix.
Abalimba tricked his victims into funding a lavish lifestyle of luxury hotels, helicopter trips and worldwide travel by lying about his identity, including by pretending to be a Premier League footballer.
In the documentary, released in 2023, Henry’s wife Claire Merry and ITV reality star Georgia Steel, opened up about how they had been deceived by 35-year-old Abalimba.
The fraudster, who previously lived in Derby, has been convicted of fraud on multiple occasions. After his most recent conviction, which resulted in a four-year and two-month prison sentence, Abalimba fled the UK, violating the terms of his licence.
Derbyshire Constabulary joined attempts to track him down after it was established that he had fled overseas.
After collaborating with law enforcement agencies in other countries, the force discovered that Abalimba had changed his name to Michi Jordan and obtained a new passport.
PC Sarah Baker, a member of the force’s International Liaison Office specialising in locating foreign national offenders, said: “Given his extensive offending there was a real concern that, armed with a new name, he could begin targeting new victims.
“However, the USA takes seriously foreign nationals who have not declared their criminal convictions, and he was quickly located and arrested by US authorities.”
Abalimba was extradited back to the UK on January 28 and arrested the following day. He has now been recalled to prison, where he will remain until October 2026, Derbyshire Police said.
PC Baker added: “Abalimba lives a life filled with deception and even after serving prison sentences, his fraudulent activities have continued.
“It has been a lengthy process to track him down and ensure he is brought back to the UK but I am pleased that we have now managed to achieve this thanks to work with a number of international law enforcement agencies.
“I’m grateful to all those who have helped with tracking him down and ensuring that he is once again behind bars and cannot cause further misery to unsuspecting victims.”
Abalimba, who was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, originally had a football career playing for Derby County. He also had trials for Southend United, Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool. But after his sporting career ended he turned to a life of crime.
In 2013, he was given a six-month suspended sentence over a £25,000 unpaid in a London nightclub and ordered to carry out 150 hours of community service. The following year, he was sentenced to four years in prison after admitting fraud offences totally £163,000.
A court heard how Abalimba would arrive at hotels, restaurants, shops and bars with an ‘entourage’ pretending to be French footballer Gael Kakuta, getting himself VIP treatment wherever he went before leaving businesses out of pocket.
After being released from jail in 2018, he met Love Island star Ms Steel. She believed she was in a relationship with ‘Miguel Johnson’ but after the paparazzi snapped them together, his true identity was revealed.
Within hours, Abalimba had disappeared and Ms Steel noticed a significant amount of money missing from her bank account.
He was later charged with defrauding her out of £13,000 and was sentenced to another 23 months in prison.
After his release he committed further offences, including defrauding Ms Merry out of more than £50,000 and defrauding a chauffer, who believed he was an agent for a Chicago Bears player, out of more than £100,000.
In September 2021, after admitting a total of 17 charges, including 15 for fraud, he was sentenced to another four years and two months in prison.
