1 00:00:07,275 --> 00:00:10,793 [Jo Mapp] This is the cafe that Nicole Elkabbas 2 00:00:10,793 --> 00:00:13,965 brought me to when she told me she had cancer. 3 00:00:14,413 --> 00:00:15,310 I was devastated. 4 00:00:15,310 --> 00:00:16,827 I put myself in her shoes. 5 00:00:16,827 --> 00:00:19,482 If I was in that position, how would feel? 6 00:00:19,482 --> 00:00:22,689 There was no type of treatment in the UK for what she needed. 7 00:00:22,689 --> 00:00:25,379 And she said she would need to go abroad. 8 00:00:25,379 --> 00:00:27,172 But that we needed to raise some funds. 9 00:00:30,896 --> 00:00:33,000 [Marc Hebden] There was an instant awareness 10 00:00:33,000 --> 00:00:35,482 about raising as much money as possible 11 00:00:35,482 --> 00:00:37,689 to be able to keep her alive. 12 00:00:41,620 --> 00:00:43,103 [Marc Cananur] Her digital footprint online 13 00:00:43,103 --> 00:00:45,310 was an individual who was professional, 14 00:00:45,310 --> 00:00:47,000 was someone who you wouldn't suspect, 15 00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:49,724 was anything other than a decent member of the community. 16 00:00:49,724 --> 00:00:52,068 Lo and behold, she was the polar opposite. 17 00:00:54,206 --> 00:00:56,103 [Jo] It was all calculated from the beginning. 18 00:00:56,103 --> 00:00:59,000 She knew who to target. She knew what to say. 19 00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:02,655 Was it... pure greed? Was it debt? 20 00:01:03,586 --> 00:01:04,862 What was it? 21 00:01:06,896 --> 00:01:09,689 I fell for the oldest trick in the book. 22 00:01:26,896 --> 00:01:28,000 [interviewer] Comfy? 23 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:29,000 Absolutely. 24 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:30,241 My name is Jo Mapp. 25 00:01:31,275 --> 00:01:32,379 So we were in Thanet, 26 00:01:32,379 --> 00:01:35,965 which is Broadstairs, Margate and Ramsgate. 27 00:01:36,931 --> 00:01:39,689 Broadstairs is a really lovely seaside town. 28 00:01:39,689 --> 00:01:41,413 Lots of nice, little restaurants. 29 00:01:41,413 --> 00:01:43,862 Nice, little scene going on over there. 30 00:01:44,482 --> 00:01:45,620 Few bars and things. 31 00:01:45,620 --> 00:01:47,103 It's a really nice, little place to live. 32 00:01:47,103 --> 00:01:52,103 I met Nicole when I moved back from Spain 11 years ago. 33 00:01:52,103 --> 00:01:55,620 Um, my son, youngest son, was three at the time. 34 00:01:55,620 --> 00:01:58,310 So he started at the nursery around the corner. 35 00:01:58,310 --> 00:02:00,275 Um, so within... 36 00:02:00,275 --> 00:02:02,172 a couple of weeks I'd been back, I met Nicole, 37 00:02:02,172 --> 00:02:05,344 because she had a son who was also at Montessori nursery. 38 00:02:12,068 --> 00:02:15,103 [Jo] I always thought Nicole seemed like a really, really good mom. 39 00:02:15,103 --> 00:02:17,896 Um, she was definitely involved... 40 00:02:17,896 --> 00:02:20,275 very heavily with his education. 41 00:02:20,275 --> 00:02:23,275 Um, she had told me at one point that 42 00:02:23,275 --> 00:02:26,068 she was gonna send her son to private school. 43 00:02:26,068 --> 00:02:28,620 And when I questioned how expensive that would be, 44 00:02:28,620 --> 00:02:31,827 she told me that he was very gifted in math 45 00:02:31,827 --> 00:02:33,517 and that he'd get a scholarship. 46 00:02:33,517 --> 00:02:36,379 She's very attractive, very well turned out. 47 00:02:36,379 --> 00:02:38,172 She is a Londoner. 48 00:02:38,172 --> 00:02:40,172 She also had connections to Spain. 49 00:02:40,172 --> 00:02:43,689 I think her family had been living in Spain or something like that. 50 00:02:43,689 --> 00:02:45,896 So we had so much in common, 51 00:02:45,896 --> 00:02:48,000 um, that we just hit it off straight away. 52 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:49,896 She's quite funny, she's quite vivacious. 53 00:02:49,896 --> 00:02:52,241 We kind of got on... pretty well. 54 00:02:59,275 --> 00:03:00,206 [interviewer] How are you today? 55 00:03:00,206 --> 00:03:01,586 I'm good, I'm good. Thanks. 56 00:03:02,206 --> 00:03:04,172 My name's Marc Hebden. 57 00:03:05,103 --> 00:03:09,034 Um... I'm a... musician. 58 00:03:10,206 --> 00:03:13,379 I met Nicole in a pub in Ramsgate. 59 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:17,482 I remember her to be very, sort of, eloquent. 60 00:03:17,482 --> 00:03:20,172 Seemed... well-educated, 61 00:03:20,172 --> 00:03:21,758 and came over... 62 00:03:22,793 --> 00:03:24,655 strongly as a business woman. 63 00:03:25,620 --> 00:03:27,000 She asked me what I did, 64 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:28,482 and, um... 65 00:03:28,482 --> 00:03:30,655 she said, "I know a lot of people that business," 66 00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:36,620 "and there's all sorts of things and events that I'm gonna be promoting... 67 00:03:36,620 --> 00:03:39,379 in the future, in the Thanet area." 68 00:03:39,379 --> 00:03:42,793 Nicole told me that she had formerly worked at Harrods 69 00:03:42,793 --> 00:03:43,896 and so had I. 70 00:03:43,896 --> 00:03:45,827 In fashion or buying. 71 00:03:45,827 --> 00:03:48,482 She was really friendly with Mohamed al-Fayed 72 00:03:48,482 --> 00:03:50,068 that she knew him really well. 73 00:03:50,413 --> 00:03:51,620 Um... 74 00:03:51,620 --> 00:03:54,379 And he was, sort of, on speed dial 75 00:03:54,379 --> 00:03:56,000 and she used to talk to him quite a lot. 76 00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:59,103 And she was really well thought of within the Harrods, kind of, brand 77 00:03:59,103 --> 00:04:00,793 and within the Harrods family. 78 00:04:00,793 --> 00:04:02,172 She was always a bit elusive, 79 00:04:02,172 --> 00:04:04,758 because she... wasn't doing that... 80 00:04:05,482 --> 00:04:06,413 job anymore. 81 00:04:06,413 --> 00:04:09,379 So it was really unclear what she was doing. 82 00:04:09,379 --> 00:04:13,586 But she did always seem so quite well-groomed, well turned out. 83 00:04:13,586 --> 00:04:16,103 [Marc] She came over as very well connected. 84 00:04:16,103 --> 00:04:20,931 And she did namedrop a few people in the music business that I knew of. 85 00:04:20,931 --> 00:04:23,241 She would talk about Sacha Baron Cohen. 86 00:04:24,482 --> 00:04:29,206 She also spoke about some actors and comedians. 87 00:04:29,206 --> 00:04:30,896 Nicole tries to position herself 88 00:04:30,896 --> 00:04:33,206 with people who are prosperous, who are... 89 00:04:33,206 --> 00:04:35,517 successful, who are quite wealthy. 90 00:04:35,517 --> 00:04:40,310 So I think by association, she tries to portray a similar image. 91 00:04:40,310 --> 00:04:42,896 An image of somebody who is well-to-do, 92 00:04:42,896 --> 00:04:44,344 somebody who is successful. 93 00:04:49,275 --> 00:04:53,068 [Marc] Nicole mentioned where she lived in Broadstairs. 94 00:04:53,793 --> 00:04:56,448 And it's a very nice street. 95 00:05:00,482 --> 00:05:02,275 [Michael Drummond] It wasn't just Nicole that lived in Broadstairs, 96 00:05:02,275 --> 00:05:04,517 her mother, who she was very close to, lived there as well. 97 00:05:04,517 --> 00:05:07,172 And they were often seen together out, walking about 98 00:05:07,172 --> 00:05:08,517 and spending time together. 99 00:05:08,517 --> 00:05:11,620 Couple of years into knowing Nicole, she, um... 100 00:05:11,620 --> 00:05:14,172 had told me that she had moved to quite a big house. 101 00:05:14,172 --> 00:05:17,103 So, um, she invited me around 102 00:05:17,103 --> 00:05:18,965 for a playdate with the boys. 103 00:05:19,620 --> 00:05:21,482 Um, and when I arrived, 104 00:05:21,482 --> 00:05:23,793 it was, it was a block of flats. 105 00:05:23,793 --> 00:05:25,586 And I kind of thought that was odd. 106 00:05:25,586 --> 00:05:28,896 But she had said, "Oh, this is a friend's flat that I'm living in for a while." 107 00:05:28,896 --> 00:05:33,620 'He's let me have it rent-free while I'm waiting for my house to be finished." 108 00:05:33,620 --> 00:05:35,620 [Marc] One day, I was talking to Nicole, 109 00:05:35,620 --> 00:05:37,620 there was a big fight coming up. 110 00:05:37,620 --> 00:05:42,689 She said, "I'm gonna put some money on this boxer 111 00:05:42,689 --> 00:05:45,172 and it's gonna be about £10,000." 112 00:05:45,172 --> 00:05:48,586 I know some quite heavy hitters with gambling. 113 00:05:48,586 --> 00:05:51,241 I mean, I've seen people win 50 grand before, but... 114 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:54,206 Um... so... 115 00:05:54,206 --> 00:05:56,103 Okay, you know, people do it. 116 00:05:56,103 --> 00:05:57,689 If they have the money, they do it. 117 00:05:57,689 --> 00:05:59,482 Nicole had claimed to Marc 118 00:05:59,482 --> 00:06:02,482 that she'd bet £10,000 on a boxing match. 119 00:06:02,482 --> 00:06:05,103 I think this is an insight into her personality. 120 00:06:05,103 --> 00:06:08,172 She's obviously somebody that likes to take risks. 121 00:06:08,172 --> 00:06:10,517 So high risk, high reward activities. 122 00:06:10,517 --> 00:06:12,620 It also shows to a degree that she 123 00:06:12,620 --> 00:06:15,068 has a lack of fear in her day-to-day living. 124 00:06:17,586 --> 00:06:20,172 Nicole was active in the local community in Broadstairs, 125 00:06:20,172 --> 00:06:23,275 organizing charity events and raising money for good causes. 126 00:06:23,275 --> 00:06:24,793 And that's how people thought of her. 127 00:06:24,793 --> 00:06:27,551 Connecting them with causes that they would want to support. 128 00:06:29,000 --> 00:06:31,551 Nicole had told me that she was a comedy actress. 129 00:06:44,068 --> 00:06:46,586 [in Scottish accent] Anyway, so yesterday, I spoke to Dave, 130 00:06:46,586 --> 00:06:48,586 and I've, kind of, come to the conclusion 131 00:06:48,586 --> 00:06:50,931 that Dave and I just didn't work. 132 00:06:50,931 --> 00:06:52,275 [in Caribbean accent] Everywhere we can go, 133 00:06:52,275 --> 00:06:55,000 me can't find anybody that me cook for 134 00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:57,000 some serious dumpling. 135 00:06:57,000 --> 00:06:59,000 [in Middle Eastern accent] Ask me, why you don't want 136 00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:00,896 to come down to other side of London? 137 00:07:00,896 --> 00:07:02,896 It's me near... 138 00:07:02,896 --> 00:07:04,896 I thought she was quite talented. 139 00:07:04,896 --> 00:07:08,896 And I thought, well, she must have had some sort of training in this. 140 00:07:08,896 --> 00:07:13,275 [Jo] Nicole had asked whether she could book out Ramsgate Musical 141 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:17,068 for her comedy event. 142 00:07:17,068 --> 00:07:19,965 And she was, sort of, headlining as the star of the show. 143 00:07:27,827 --> 00:07:29,517 She would try out her comedy 144 00:07:29,517 --> 00:07:32,586 and get other bands and local musicians 145 00:07:32,586 --> 00:07:33,620 to get involved as well. 146 00:07:33,620 --> 00:07:36,344 So she could, you know, highlight them. 147 00:07:37,482 --> 00:07:39,172 "Around the World in One Hour." 148 00:07:39,172 --> 00:07:41,379 It was gonna be a comedy from around the world. 149 00:07:41,379 --> 00:07:45,172 It was Nicole standing up, doing various accents. 150 00:07:45,172 --> 00:07:48,206 She told me that sort of famous people would be attending. 151 00:07:48,206 --> 00:07:49,862 She gave me, um... 152 00:07:50,689 --> 00:07:51,793 a guest list 153 00:07:51,793 --> 00:07:55,068 that people that she thought might come along. 154 00:07:55,793 --> 00:07:58,586 Um... and she had put things on this 155 00:07:58,586 --> 00:08:00,793 such as like the Appletons, 156 00:08:00,793 --> 00:08:02,275 Meg Matthews, 157 00:08:02,275 --> 00:08:05,586 and all of these, kind of, stars. 158 00:08:05,586 --> 00:08:08,586 Even though Nicole considered herself the headline act. 159 00:08:10,379 --> 00:08:14,793 I think that Nicole that night really enjoyed 160 00:08:14,793 --> 00:08:16,172 the attention, 161 00:08:16,172 --> 00:08:19,931 everybody looking at her, being the center of what was going on. 162 00:08:19,931 --> 00:08:22,379 She enjoyed the fact that she had put on an event. 163 00:08:22,379 --> 00:08:24,586 And everybody was telling her how great it was 164 00:08:24,586 --> 00:08:27,586 to highlight the work of the young people in our area. 165 00:08:27,586 --> 00:08:30,448 So there were no alarm bells for me during that time. 166 00:08:33,379 --> 00:08:36,275 I don't know whether anything that she told me was true now. 167 00:08:36,275 --> 00:08:38,379 I don't know whether she really was from London. 168 00:08:38,379 --> 00:08:40,586 I don't know whether she had connections in Spain. 169 00:08:41,379 --> 00:08:43,689 Her whole history could be made up. 170 00:08:43,689 --> 00:08:44,896 None of it could be true. 171 00:08:44,896 --> 00:08:47,000 Or some of it could be true, I don't know. 172 00:09:01,034 --> 00:09:02,896 [Jo] Nicole and I were pretty close. 173 00:09:02,896 --> 00:09:05,034 It felt really nice to have... 174 00:09:05,034 --> 00:09:07,448 somebody that I could relate to. 175 00:09:07,448 --> 00:09:11,275 She approached me about a gala boxing event night 176 00:09:11,275 --> 00:09:12,689 that she wanted to hold. 177 00:09:17,172 --> 00:09:20,206 [Marc] She said to me that she was going to be doing some... 178 00:09:20,758 --> 00:09:22,448 charity raising events. 179 00:09:23,482 --> 00:09:26,448 One in particular for the Broadstairs Town Shed. 180 00:09:27,793 --> 00:09:29,793 You know, a really... a really good thing. 181 00:09:29,793 --> 00:09:31,758 'cause the Broadstairs Town Shed 182 00:09:32,275 --> 00:09:35,758 is about elderly men 183 00:09:35,758 --> 00:09:38,344 being able to do carpentry and different things. 184 00:09:38,344 --> 00:09:41,103 And also to be able to connect with different people. 185 00:09:42,344 --> 00:09:45,586 [Jo] The event took place in the Winter Gardens in Margate. 186 00:09:45,586 --> 00:09:49,137 All her connections in the boxing industry were going to be there. 187 00:09:49,137 --> 00:09:51,034 And there was going to be an auction. 188 00:09:51,034 --> 00:09:53,344 They were going to sell off tickets for the night. 189 00:09:53,344 --> 00:09:55,862 And it was gonna be, sort of "booked out." 190 00:10:04,379 --> 00:10:08,379 I was involved in a very serious road incident 191 00:10:08,379 --> 00:10:09,551 several years back. 192 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:11,931 Um, and I lost mobility. 193 00:10:12,896 --> 00:10:15,793 Then I realized at the time, and especially after, 194 00:10:15,793 --> 00:10:20,172 how quickly one can become depressed and how it can spiral. 195 00:10:20,172 --> 00:10:24,275 Nicole comes across really well in the promotional video. 196 00:10:24,275 --> 00:10:27,689 She seems like somebody who's credible, who's believable. 197 00:10:27,689 --> 00:10:29,689 She's quite eloquent in the way that she speaks. 198 00:10:29,689 --> 00:10:31,379 So to all intents and purposes, 199 00:10:31,379 --> 00:10:34,793 there's no reason to suspect there's anything 200 00:10:34,793 --> 00:10:38,068 sinister or fraudulent going on behind the scenes. 201 00:10:38,068 --> 00:10:40,965 So when I went to the Shed and I saw the work that they do, 202 00:10:40,965 --> 00:10:42,827 and how it changes lives, 203 00:10:43,137 --> 00:10:45,000 Um... 204 00:10:45,000 --> 00:10:48,137 I realized, "Gosh, that was a similar situation a lot of them were in that I was in." 205 00:10:48,137 --> 00:10:49,965 So I could relate. 206 00:10:49,965 --> 00:10:53,172 Um, and I thought, well, how can I actually help? 207 00:10:53,172 --> 00:10:57,379 When we look at Nicole's involvement in the promotional boxing video, 208 00:10:57,379 --> 00:11:00,068 it shows another aspect to her personality. 209 00:11:00,068 --> 00:11:03,275 Not only is she trying to portray herself as somebody who's 210 00:11:03,275 --> 00:11:04,965 quite glamours and successful, 211 00:11:04,965 --> 00:11:08,275 but also that she has a socially conscious side. 212 00:11:08,275 --> 00:11:11,275 So she's going out of her way to contribute to this event 213 00:11:11,275 --> 00:11:13,344 to try and raise money for charity. 214 00:11:13,344 --> 00:11:17,931 I went to the boxing night at Winter Gardens in Margate, yeah. 215 00:11:21,068 --> 00:11:23,172 [indistinct chatter] 216 00:11:23,172 --> 00:11:27,137 I remember rightly something went wrong with the boxing night though. 217 00:11:27,137 --> 00:11:29,103 Although there were some bouts, 218 00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:33,482 it didn't quite pan out as it should've been. 219 00:11:33,482 --> 00:11:36,172 There were meant to be certain celebrities... 220 00:11:36,172 --> 00:11:37,655 uh, arriving. 221 00:11:38,379 --> 00:11:39,793 But I didn't see any. 222 00:11:39,793 --> 00:11:42,862 It wasn't a success. There weren't many people there, 223 00:11:42,862 --> 00:11:47,137 and there certainly... it wasn't the star-studded gala boxing event 224 00:11:47,137 --> 00:11:48,965 that she had been promoting. 225 00:11:54,137 --> 00:11:57,689 A few years ago, a mutual friend of ours passed away. 226 00:11:57,689 --> 00:11:59,724 And we were at her funeral. 227 00:11:59,896 --> 00:12:01,344 Um... 228 00:12:01,344 --> 00:12:05,275 So, literally, just as we walked outside to view the flowers 229 00:12:05,275 --> 00:12:07,172 and to talk to the family, 230 00:12:08,137 --> 00:12:12,172 Nicole told me then that her cancer had returned. 231 00:12:13,068 --> 00:12:15,137 And I could remember thinking, 232 00:12:15,137 --> 00:12:18,586 "Oh my God," you know, "I didn't know you had cancer." 233 00:12:18,586 --> 00:12:21,724 "What kind of friend am I that I've missed something as big as that?" 234 00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:24,862 I was like, "Oh, my God, I'm so sorry." 235 00:12:29,379 --> 00:12:31,379 The fact that she was talking about cancer 236 00:12:31,379 --> 00:12:33,241 resonated massively with me. 237 00:12:33,241 --> 00:12:38,482 Because I had lost a friend, I think, less than a year before. 238 00:12:38,482 --> 00:12:41,655 And I just put myself in her shoes, "How would I feel?" 239 00:12:41,655 --> 00:12:45,000 If the prospect of my life been shortened and not spending, 240 00:12:45,448 --> 00:12:48,137 that time with my son, 241 00:12:48,137 --> 00:12:50,000 how would I feel about that? 242 00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:53,068 I think the very fact that Nicole approached other people 243 00:12:53,068 --> 00:12:55,103 at a funeral is quite telling. 244 00:12:55,103 --> 00:12:58,103 She would've known that this is a very vulnerable time. 245 00:12:58,103 --> 00:13:03,793 People are quite contemplative about mortality at a funeral, 246 00:13:03,793 --> 00:13:05,172 their own and other people's. 247 00:13:05,172 --> 00:13:07,379 So they might be more generous. 248 00:13:07,379 --> 00:13:10,827 They might have heightened sense of empathy at that time. 249 00:13:13,275 --> 00:13:18,275 [Jo] I left the funeral feeling pretty devastated for her. 250 00:13:18,275 --> 00:13:20,344 Um, and within a couple of days, 251 00:13:20,344 --> 00:13:23,482 I was on the phone to her, asking her how I could help her? 252 00:13:23,482 --> 00:13:26,655 If there's anything that I could do or the community could do? 253 00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:30,586 She asked me to meet her in a friend's cafe, 254 00:13:30,586 --> 00:13:31,689 which I did. 255 00:13:31,689 --> 00:13:34,517 Um, so we sat there and... 256 00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:36,448 I was crying. 257 00:13:36,448 --> 00:13:39,862 And she was just amazingly strong. 258 00:13:39,862 --> 00:13:42,620 She was saying that she's completely changed her diet. 259 00:13:43,172 --> 00:13:46,000 She has done so much research 260 00:13:46,000 --> 00:13:48,034 that she knows that there's a cure out there for her. 261 00:13:48,034 --> 00:13:51,379 But the particular medicine, the medication that she needed, 262 00:13:51,379 --> 00:13:54,482 and the treatment that she needed was really expensive. 263 00:13:54,482 --> 00:13:57,379 So from there, we began to formulate little plans 264 00:13:57,379 --> 00:14:00,137 about how we could make money, how we could raise money. 265 00:14:06,655 --> 00:14:10,172 There had been a GoFundMe page set up by her mom, 266 00:14:10,172 --> 00:14:12,551 saying that she wanted to save her daughter. 267 00:14:24,896 --> 00:14:26,862 When I read through it, it was quite heartbreaking. 268 00:14:26,862 --> 00:14:30,379 She spoke so tenderly of what a great daughter her Nicole was. 269 00:14:30,379 --> 00:14:34,344 Um, and it really tugged on your heartstrings. It was--- 270 00:14:34,344 --> 00:14:36,793 Particularly me, because we were the same age. 271 00:14:36,793 --> 00:14:38,517 Our children were the same age. 272 00:14:47,862 --> 00:14:51,137 I just remember the picture of Nicole 273 00:14:51,137 --> 00:14:53,965 in hospital with the drips and everything else 274 00:14:55,551 --> 00:14:58,241 coming out of her body and her looking very unwell. 275 00:14:59,655 --> 00:15:02,448 And saying, she needed funds for medicines. 276 00:15:02,448 --> 00:15:07,275 I think it was 40,000 euros for the surgery. 277 00:15:07,275 --> 00:15:09,172 And then she needed... 278 00:15:09,172 --> 00:15:11,655 about £13,000 a month 279 00:15:12,793 --> 00:15:14,172 for the medicine. 280 00:15:14,172 --> 00:15:16,620 And it was over quite a few months. 281 00:15:24,000 --> 00:15:27,034 She had written every medical term down. 282 00:15:27,034 --> 00:15:30,896 She had a list of medication that she would need. 283 00:15:30,896 --> 00:15:32,793 Where she would need to go for treatment. 284 00:15:32,793 --> 00:15:34,482 Where the best treatment was. 285 00:15:34,482 --> 00:15:36,000 She knew everything. 286 00:15:36,000 --> 00:15:40,379 She raised the subject about needing to get some funds desperately. 287 00:15:40,379 --> 00:15:45,275 Um, and that she needed funds by X amount, like, a certain day 288 00:15:45,275 --> 00:15:47,758 to secure the drugs that she needed. 289 00:15:52,793 --> 00:15:55,103 One day, she called me at home. 290 00:15:55,103 --> 00:15:56,482 And she was in a panic, 291 00:15:56,482 --> 00:16:00,482 saying that she needed, I think it was, £5,000 by Friday 292 00:16:00,482 --> 00:16:02,172 and could I give it to her? 293 00:16:02,172 --> 00:16:05,482 Because money hadn't come through that she needed for treatment 294 00:16:05,482 --> 00:16:07,172 and she was in a bit of a pickle. 295 00:16:07,172 --> 00:16:11,862 Um, and I said to her, I don't have that kind of money just at hand. 296 00:16:11,862 --> 00:16:15,793 So I told her that I had probably a couple of thousand at the most 297 00:16:15,793 --> 00:16:17,448 that I could put into her account. 298 00:16:17,448 --> 00:16:18,965 But it wasn't my money. 299 00:16:18,965 --> 00:16:22,000 So I needed the money back by the Friday, 300 00:16:22,379 --> 00:16:23,862 which she agreed to. 301 00:16:23,862 --> 00:16:26,862 The Friday came and I got in contact with her and said I need the money. 302 00:16:26,862 --> 00:16:30,000 She said, just give me the weekend, which was fine. 303 00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:33,241 Um, and then by the weekend, she put the money back into my account. 304 00:16:44,551 --> 00:16:46,620 [Jo] Nicole went off for treatment. 305 00:16:48,275 --> 00:16:51,482 And she had said that she had to go to a specialist hospital, 306 00:16:51,482 --> 00:16:53,172 specialist cancer treatment hospital, 307 00:16:53,172 --> 00:16:55,448 they were really advanced and they were in Spain. 308 00:16:57,068 --> 00:16:59,793 So Nicole was updating everybody, 309 00:16:59,793 --> 00:17:02,000 um, via the GoFundMe page. 310 00:17:02,000 --> 00:17:04,241 And she was always putting on... 311 00:17:05,000 --> 00:17:07,137 very inspirational messages. 312 00:17:07,137 --> 00:17:08,862 She never felt sorry for herself. 313 00:17:08,862 --> 00:17:11,965 She was always, "I'm a fighter," "I'm doing this..." 314 00:17:11,965 --> 00:17:16,000 Um, you know, "An extra day is amazing." 315 00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:18,172 It was really inspirational. 316 00:17:18,172 --> 00:17:20,172 As Nicole first starts telling people 317 00:17:20,172 --> 00:17:23,379 she's having multiple rounds of chemotherapy, 318 00:17:23,379 --> 00:17:25,586 she talks about this so-called wonder drug 319 00:17:25,586 --> 00:17:28,034 that would be really able to help her. 320 00:17:28,034 --> 00:17:30,275 What Nicole was saying about being diagnosed 321 00:17:30,275 --> 00:17:32,862 and needing treatment for cancer resonated with people. 322 00:17:33,655 --> 00:17:35,482 The people she told in Broadstairs 323 00:17:35,482 --> 00:17:37,551 were really affected by it. 324 00:17:37,551 --> 00:17:39,137 Regular posts would appear on it. 325 00:17:39,137 --> 00:17:41,275 And these were really shared among the local community. 326 00:17:41,275 --> 00:17:43,482 It really felt like the Broadstairs community 327 00:17:43,482 --> 00:17:45,103 wrapped their arms around Nicole 328 00:17:45,103 --> 00:17:46,448 and brought her along with them. 329 00:17:46,448 --> 00:17:48,655 People would share it, people would repost it. 330 00:17:48,655 --> 00:17:52,103 And that only resulted in more donations. 331 00:17:52,103 --> 00:17:56,482 It's not unusual for us to be asked for help on social media. 332 00:17:56,482 --> 00:17:59,862 There are often requests for different types of charity. 333 00:17:59,862 --> 00:18:01,965 I think Nicole has positioned herself 334 00:18:02,793 --> 00:18:05,172 very well in this, kind of, context. 335 00:18:05,172 --> 00:18:08,689 So she comes across through the posts as being 336 00:18:08,689 --> 00:18:10,482 somebody with children. 337 00:18:10,482 --> 00:18:13,482 She's described as a beautiful daughter. 338 00:18:13,482 --> 00:18:17,103 So I think this really pulls at one's heartstrings. 339 00:18:17,689 --> 00:18:19,172 It makes... 340 00:18:19,172 --> 00:18:22,793 the average person less likely to just scroll past 341 00:18:22,793 --> 00:18:24,344 and actually engage with her story. 342 00:18:24,344 --> 00:18:27,586 And feel generous and feel this empathy with her situation. 343 00:18:27,586 --> 00:18:29,586 And when you see a victim like Nicole, 344 00:18:29,586 --> 00:18:32,000 who supposedly has this cancer diagnosis, 345 00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:33,586 there's also a time pressure. 346 00:18:33,586 --> 00:18:35,379 People know that they want to help. 347 00:18:35,379 --> 00:18:37,344 If they want to donate to the cause, 348 00:18:38,448 --> 00:18:39,344 there's not much time 349 00:18:39,344 --> 00:18:41,275 if he's actually genuinely unwell. 350 00:18:41,275 --> 00:18:44,344 So there's a psychological added layer of pressure. 351 00:18:45,551 --> 00:18:49,482 Nicole and I were talking and she mentioned 352 00:18:49,482 --> 00:18:52,862 that she had had to be operated on in Margate. 353 00:18:53,275 --> 00:18:55,448 I was, um, obviously... 354 00:18:56,103 --> 00:18:57,586 quite devastated really, 355 00:18:57,586 --> 00:18:59,862 as you would be for anyone that you knew. 356 00:18:59,862 --> 00:19:03,172 'Cause... you know, it's something that's... 357 00:19:03,172 --> 00:19:04,896 you know, you just don't know where it's gonna go. 358 00:19:04,896 --> 00:19:08,000 So, yeah, of course, I felt for her greatly. 359 00:19:08,758 --> 00:19:10,482 And she said to me, 360 00:19:10,482 --> 00:19:13,862 "I'm going to be having the operation tomorrow." 361 00:19:13,862 --> 00:19:18,793 So I thought, right, I'll just leave it one day 362 00:19:18,793 --> 00:19:21,965 and then I'll go over and visit her. 363 00:19:21,965 --> 00:19:23,551 She said, "Oh, there's no need for that. 364 00:19:23,551 --> 00:19:25,379 We don't want a lot of people here. 365 00:19:25,379 --> 00:19:29,344 My mother's here with me. And I got family here. 366 00:19:29,344 --> 00:19:30,551 And I don't really wanna make--" 367 00:19:31,241 --> 00:19:32,172 You know, "I need to rest. 368 00:19:32,172 --> 00:19:34,586 I don't wanna make a big thing of this." 369 00:19:34,586 --> 00:19:38,068 Then I thought, what I'll do is I'll go up, 370 00:19:38,068 --> 00:19:39,724 I'll take a little bunch of flowers. 371 00:19:40,862 --> 00:19:44,482 I remember the nurse that was on duty, 372 00:19:44,482 --> 00:19:46,655 sort of, getting out this clipboard. 373 00:19:46,655 --> 00:19:49,034 And there were quite a few names on it. 374 00:19:49,034 --> 00:19:51,448 She said, "We haven't got anyone here of that name." 375 00:19:53,172 --> 00:19:54,586 And I said, 376 00:19:54,586 --> 00:19:58,275 "Yeah, she had an operation for an ovarian cancer yesterday." 377 00:19:58,275 --> 00:20:03,241 And she said, "No. There's... there's nobody here of that name." 378 00:20:33,172 --> 00:20:34,275 During the whole period 379 00:20:34,275 --> 00:20:37,103 that Nicole was suffering from cancer, 380 00:20:37,482 --> 00:20:39,896 she had, um... 381 00:20:39,896 --> 00:20:42,689 she had done various events, I think so. 382 00:20:42,689 --> 00:20:44,586 Or that people had done some things for her. 383 00:20:44,586 --> 00:20:48,344 And the main thrust of the whole, um... 384 00:20:48,344 --> 00:20:50,793 sort of, donation was going to GoFundMe. 385 00:20:50,793 --> 00:20:55,448 So lots of people were sharing her story on their page. 386 00:20:55,448 --> 00:20:58,344 And they were going to the GoFundMe page 387 00:20:58,344 --> 00:21:00,172 to donate to her. 388 00:21:00,172 --> 00:21:06,344 Um, during this time, she was mainly talking to me about keeping mentally focused, 389 00:21:06,344 --> 00:21:08,482 talking to me about eating really well, 390 00:21:08,482 --> 00:21:13,137 juicing, putting lots of inspirational pictures up on her Instagram. 391 00:21:18,655 --> 00:21:21,448 [Marc] In the community where I live, 392 00:21:22,172 --> 00:21:26,379 there was an instant, um... 393 00:21:26,379 --> 00:21:30,758 sort of awareness about raising as much money as possible for Nicole 394 00:21:32,034 --> 00:21:33,448 to be able to keep her alive. 395 00:21:34,586 --> 00:21:37,655 and a lot of people 396 00:21:38,379 --> 00:21:39,827 donated a lot of money. 397 00:21:40,482 --> 00:21:42,448 I didn't have any money at the time, 398 00:21:42,448 --> 00:21:45,448 so I think I gave 30 quid for her. [chuckles] 399 00:21:46,241 --> 00:21:48,137 But if I'd had money, 400 00:21:48,137 --> 00:21:50,206 I would've definitely tried to give more, you know. 401 00:21:54,068 --> 00:21:57,344 I gave it to the GoFundMe page. 402 00:21:58,586 --> 00:21:59,758 Good friend of mine 403 00:22:00,689 --> 00:22:02,241 who had actually 404 00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:05,034 never met Nicole, 405 00:22:05,034 --> 00:22:07,965 but, I think, knew of her through boxing circles, 406 00:22:09,379 --> 00:22:11,482 donated £1,000. 407 00:22:11,482 --> 00:22:13,827 He sent it directly to her account. 408 00:22:29,689 --> 00:22:33,000 [Jo] I came to hold an event at Ramsgate Music Hall. 409 00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:36,000 So my idea was to just put 410 00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:38,620 a big fundraising bowl on the bar 411 00:22:39,068 --> 00:22:40,172 because Nicole was away. 412 00:22:40,172 --> 00:22:42,793 She told me she was ill, so she couldn't attend. 413 00:22:42,793 --> 00:22:48,172 Um, and Ramsgate Music Hall, uh, customers 414 00:22:48,172 --> 00:22:50,275 put money into, um, a big pot for her. 415 00:22:50,275 --> 00:22:51,896 And I think at the end of that night, 416 00:22:51,896 --> 00:22:53,448 we had a couple of hundred pounds. 417 00:23:00,448 --> 00:23:02,689 When we look at Nicole's opportunity, 418 00:23:02,689 --> 00:23:05,655 this is quite vast, it's quite widespread. 419 00:23:05,655 --> 00:23:07,793 She's put out these social media posts 420 00:23:07,793 --> 00:23:12,172 knowing that, potentially, they could spread across the entire globe. 421 00:23:12,172 --> 00:23:13,689 There's lots of potential victims 422 00:23:13,689 --> 00:23:15,896 that might donate small amounts of money, 423 00:23:15,896 --> 00:23:18,172 but over time, in totality, 424 00:23:18,172 --> 00:23:20,482 it could actually be quite a big payday for her. 425 00:23:20,482 --> 00:23:26,241 I think the GoFundMe page got up to about 600 people donating in the end, 426 00:23:26,241 --> 00:23:29,862 um, and I think there was about £45,000 in there. 427 00:23:34,034 --> 00:23:36,172 [Jo] After all the money was raised, 428 00:23:36,172 --> 00:23:41,000 Nicole was updating everybody, um, via the GoFundMe page, 429 00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:43,137 and she was always putting on 430 00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:46,172 very inspirational messages. 431 00:23:46,172 --> 00:23:47,689 She never felt sorry for herself, 432 00:23:47,689 --> 00:23:49,448 she was always, "I'm a fighter," 433 00:23:49,448 --> 00:23:51,655 "I'm doing this," um, you know, 434 00:23:52,241 --> 00:23:55,137 "An extra day is amazing." 435 00:23:57,586 --> 00:24:00,793 So there were no alarm bells for me during that time. 436 00:24:00,793 --> 00:24:06,172 However, when she came back from her treatment, 437 00:24:06,172 --> 00:24:07,586 [clicks tongue] she came to see me 438 00:24:07,586 --> 00:24:10,896 round Ramsgate Music Hall again one evening, 439 00:24:10,896 --> 00:24:14,965 and this sounds awful, but she looked amazing. 440 00:24:15,793 --> 00:24:19,172 She had... Her skin was beautiful, 441 00:24:19,172 --> 00:24:22,689 her hair was amazing, she'd lost weight, she just... 442 00:24:22,689 --> 00:24:24,586 And I didn't want to say to her, 443 00:24:24,586 --> 00:24:27,586 "My God, you've lost weight, but you look absolutely amazing." 444 00:24:27,586 --> 00:24:30,000 I didn't know what to say because I thought it was, you know, 445 00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:31,482 a really delicate situation. 446 00:24:31,482 --> 00:24:34,068 And it was a friend that said to me, 447 00:24:34,068 --> 00:24:36,137 "That doesn't seem right, does it, 448 00:24:36,137 --> 00:24:38,137 that she would look that well after such..." 449 00:24:38,137 --> 00:24:42,275 'Cause her treatment, apparently, was quite invasive and quite difficult. 450 00:24:42,275 --> 00:24:45,034 [Drummond] The hospital bed picture is key in this case. 451 00:24:45,034 --> 00:24:46,862 She puts it up on the GoFundMe page, 452 00:24:46,862 --> 00:24:49,000 the GoFundMe page goes all the way around Broadstairs, 453 00:24:49,000 --> 00:24:50,793 this close community, 454 00:24:50,793 --> 00:24:53,689 and it makes its way to one of the doctors who treated her. 455 00:24:53,689 --> 00:24:56,172 They look at the picture and think, "Something's not right," 456 00:24:56,172 --> 00:24:57,310 and they inform the police. 457 00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:08,275 So we first became aware of Nicole Elkabbas 458 00:25:08,275 --> 00:25:10,793 as a result of a referral from the NHS. 459 00:25:10,793 --> 00:25:13,172 A referral as a result of a concern 460 00:25:13,172 --> 00:25:15,068 that Nicole Elkabbas was claiming 461 00:25:15,068 --> 00:25:16,896 that she had ovarian cancer. 462 00:25:16,896 --> 00:25:18,586 'Cause we had Nicole Elkabbas 463 00:25:18,586 --> 00:25:21,344 on a GoFundMe webpage which was live, 464 00:25:21,344 --> 00:25:23,482 showing her lying in a hospital bed, 465 00:25:23,482 --> 00:25:25,103 essentially looking really ill. 466 00:25:25,103 --> 00:25:27,482 We needed to be categorically sure 467 00:25:27,482 --> 00:25:29,758 that Nicole was not suffering with cancer. 468 00:25:31,379 --> 00:25:34,275 Dr. Ross had raised an alarm because he had treated her 469 00:25:34,275 --> 00:25:37,482 in December 2017 for gall bladder removal 470 00:25:37,482 --> 00:25:38,793 at a hospital in Margate, 471 00:25:38,793 --> 00:25:41,275 and Nicole would claim that she was suffering with cancer. 472 00:25:41,275 --> 00:25:44,068 So like any diligent, responsible NHS professional, 473 00:25:44,068 --> 00:25:47,482 she was tested for various forms of cancer as well. 474 00:25:47,482 --> 00:25:50,758 Categorically, it came back that she was not suffering 475 00:25:50,758 --> 00:25:53,137 with any ovarian cancer whatsoever. 476 00:25:53,137 --> 00:25:55,586 She was merely there for gall bladder removal. 477 00:25:55,586 --> 00:25:58,586 When we looked at the GoFundMe page, it had an image 478 00:25:58,586 --> 00:26:01,689 which suggested that she was abroad, having treatment. 479 00:26:01,689 --> 00:26:03,448 However, like any detective, 480 00:26:03,448 --> 00:26:05,103 if you look at the fine-grained detail 481 00:26:05,103 --> 00:26:07,000 behind the obvious image of Nicole, 482 00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:08,275 you'd see certain things 483 00:26:08,275 --> 00:26:11,724 like the 3-pin plug, which suggests it was in the UK. 484 00:26:13,586 --> 00:26:15,275 We went to that hospital, 485 00:26:15,275 --> 00:26:19,137 we identified the distinctive wallpaper, we identified the room, 486 00:26:19,137 --> 00:26:20,551 and lo and behold, 487 00:26:20,551 --> 00:26:23,275 that confirmed that Nicole was there for gall stone removal 488 00:26:23,275 --> 00:26:25,344 as opposed to suffering with ovarian cancer. 489 00:26:27,241 --> 00:26:28,793 So now we were satisfied 490 00:26:28,793 --> 00:26:30,586 that, in fact, we were dealing with a fraud. 491 00:26:30,586 --> 00:26:32,586 It was really important to make sure 492 00:26:32,586 --> 00:26:34,586 that the GoFundMe page was stopped 493 00:26:34,586 --> 00:26:37,000 to prevent further people losing money. 494 00:26:37,000 --> 00:26:39,241 These donors were donating on a daily basis, 495 00:26:39,241 --> 00:26:41,103 so we reached out to GoFundMe 496 00:26:41,103 --> 00:26:44,413 and made sure that that website page was shut down immediately. 497 00:26:48,586 --> 00:26:50,137 So we knew where Nicole was living. 498 00:26:50,137 --> 00:26:52,172 She was living with her son, mom and dad, 499 00:26:52,172 --> 00:26:54,172 a very nice family home in Broadstairs. 500 00:26:54,689 --> 00:26:55,758 So we went 501 00:26:56,586 --> 00:26:57,586 early one morning, 502 00:26:57,586 --> 00:26:59,448 knocked on that door, and lo and behold, 503 00:26:59,448 --> 00:27:02,379 the mom opened the door and had no knowledge of this scam 504 00:27:02,379 --> 00:27:05,000 because they thought their daughter was suffering with cancer, 505 00:27:05,000 --> 00:27:07,034 so it had a massive shock on them immediately. 506 00:27:07,034 --> 00:27:09,137 And to be confronted first thing in the morning 507 00:27:09,137 --> 00:27:10,896 with police officers at your door, 508 00:27:10,896 --> 00:27:12,482 it was really a stressful experience. 509 00:27:12,482 --> 00:27:16,172 So really delicate, sensitive situation for us. 510 00:27:16,172 --> 00:27:18,517 Nicole was arrested immediately for fraud, 511 00:27:21,034 --> 00:27:23,689 Nicole was brought into custody at a local police station 512 00:27:23,689 --> 00:27:26,586 and she was interviewed in the presence of a solicitor, 513 00:27:26,586 --> 00:27:28,586 and the investigating officers. 514 00:27:28,586 --> 00:27:30,965 She was essentially very convincing. 515 00:27:30,965 --> 00:27:34,862 An individual who is adamant she was suffering with ovarian cancer, 516 00:27:34,862 --> 00:27:37,862 provided the timeline around where she'd gone, 517 00:27:37,862 --> 00:27:39,586 and when and who she'd interacted with. 518 00:27:39,586 --> 00:27:42,379 She mentioned the Teknon hospital in Spain 519 00:27:42,379 --> 00:27:44,482 where she was regularly going for treatment. 520 00:27:44,482 --> 00:27:47,275 She mentioned a Dr. Suarez who was treating her 521 00:27:47,275 --> 00:27:50,758 to, hopefully, prevent herself from dying of cancer. 522 00:27:50,758 --> 00:27:52,379 Now she was that convincing. 523 00:27:52,379 --> 00:27:55,000 In fact, when the investigating officers came back to me, 524 00:27:55,758 --> 00:27:57,172 they were concerned, in fact, 525 00:27:57,172 --> 00:28:00,689 that we may be dealing with a cancer patient as opposed to a fraudster. 526 00:28:00,689 --> 00:28:03,655 She listed specific medication which she was having, 527 00:28:03,655 --> 00:28:05,172 test results, 528 00:28:05,172 --> 00:28:07,655 details of how much medical treatment she needed 529 00:28:07,655 --> 00:28:09,000 on a regular basis. 530 00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:13,275 And real finite detail about exact cost implications per month. 531 00:28:13,275 --> 00:28:15,758 [Jo] A friend sent an article over to me where it said 532 00:28:15,758 --> 00:28:18,034 that, um, "Local woman," 533 00:28:18,034 --> 00:28:21,034 and it mentioned Nicole Elkabbas 534 00:28:21,034 --> 00:28:23,793 had been, um, arrested for fraud, 535 00:28:23,793 --> 00:28:26,103 saying that she had got everybody 536 00:28:26,103 --> 00:28:27,758 to believe she had cancer 537 00:28:27,758 --> 00:28:29,586 and raised a whole lot of money, 538 00:28:29,586 --> 00:28:32,206 but hadn't used any of the money for cancer treatment. 539 00:28:34,241 --> 00:28:35,172 I didn't believe it. 540 00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:37,586 I absolutely didn't believe it. 541 00:28:37,586 --> 00:28:40,862 And friends were saying to me, "But it's in black and white." And I was like, "No. 542 00:28:40,862 --> 00:28:43,379 They are saying she's been arrested for that, 543 00:28:43,379 --> 00:28:46,000 they haven't proven anything." 544 00:28:46,000 --> 00:28:49,068 Um, so I absolutely still didn't believe it. 545 00:28:49,068 --> 00:28:52,103 I wasn't really suspicious myself, to be honest, 546 00:28:54,275 --> 00:28:58,793 until I actually heard that she'd been nicked. 547 00:28:58,793 --> 00:29:01,344 I wasn't quite sure whether to believe it at first or not, 548 00:29:01,344 --> 00:29:04,862 and I thought it could've been some hearsay locally 549 00:29:04,862 --> 00:29:07,413 or, you know, a rumor had began. 550 00:29:08,379 --> 00:29:10,379 But it quickly escalated. 551 00:29:10,379 --> 00:29:12,241 After I read the article, 552 00:29:12,241 --> 00:29:14,103 um, which I didn't believe, 553 00:29:14,103 --> 00:29:17,896 I sent Nicole a message on Facebook. 554 00:29:17,896 --> 00:29:21,896 And she said to me that, um, 555 00:29:21,896 --> 00:29:23,551 "Don't worry, darling, the truth will come out. 556 00:29:23,551 --> 00:29:25,862 I can't talk right now because I've been told 557 00:29:25,862 --> 00:29:27,793 I'm not allowed to talk right now. 558 00:29:27,793 --> 00:29:29,758 But keep believing in me." 559 00:29:29,758 --> 00:29:33,000 So during the initial interview, Nicole did confirm 560 00:29:33,000 --> 00:29:36,655 that the image on the GoFundMe website was, in fact, her 561 00:29:36,655 --> 00:29:39,793 at the Spencer wing of the hospital in Thanet 562 00:29:39,793 --> 00:29:42,793 having gall bladder removal in 2017. 563 00:29:42,793 --> 00:29:44,172 She finally accepted that. 564 00:29:44,172 --> 00:29:46,275 And she did accept that it was somewhat misleading 565 00:29:46,275 --> 00:29:49,000 because it suggested that she was suffering with cancer. 566 00:29:49,862 --> 00:29:51,275 But to quote, she said, 567 00:29:51,275 --> 00:29:54,689 "It was the only image I had at the time, which is why I used it." 568 00:29:54,689 --> 00:29:57,482 Clearly, she put that picture on that website 569 00:29:57,482 --> 00:29:58,896 solely for people to think 570 00:29:58,896 --> 00:30:01,793 she was seriously ill and needed medical help, 571 00:30:01,793 --> 00:30:04,689 and financial help from them to get over this cancer. 572 00:30:04,689 --> 00:30:06,344 So that was a real key point 573 00:30:06,344 --> 00:30:08,482 that we needed to cover as part of the investigation, 574 00:30:08,482 --> 00:30:11,482 to show her deception, her deceptive mind. 575 00:30:11,482 --> 00:30:13,758 Nicole was clearly a fantasist. 576 00:30:13,758 --> 00:30:15,689 She has these very grandiose ideas 577 00:30:15,689 --> 00:30:18,379 and she has this ultimate confidence 578 00:30:18,379 --> 00:30:21,103 in herself and her ability to pull off these lies. 579 00:30:21,103 --> 00:30:23,586 We explained to Nicole that as part of our investigation, 580 00:30:23,586 --> 00:30:25,793 we were gonna look into her financial history. 581 00:30:25,793 --> 00:30:27,172 She was quite deadpan to that. 582 00:30:27,172 --> 00:30:29,793 Her reaction was very much stone-faced. 583 00:30:29,793 --> 00:30:31,344 No... concerns. 584 00:30:37,689 --> 00:30:39,448 But as time went on, 585 00:30:39,448 --> 00:30:41,172 lots of other people were saying 586 00:30:41,172 --> 00:30:45,241 they'd always had suspicions about her, um... 587 00:30:45,241 --> 00:30:48,551 And just the noise became louder and louder and louder 588 00:30:48,551 --> 00:30:51,275 to the point where I couldn't really ignore it. 589 00:30:51,275 --> 00:30:54,172 Um, so I did, once again, confront her 590 00:30:54,172 --> 00:30:55,965 on... On Facebook. 591 00:30:55,965 --> 00:30:59,034 It was all over the news, it was all over the papers. 592 00:31:01,689 --> 00:31:03,689 I was absolutely gutted, to be honest, 593 00:31:03,689 --> 00:31:05,206 and I... And I thought, 594 00:31:08,068 --> 00:31:09,379 "Wow." 595 00:31:09,379 --> 00:31:12,344 I was noticing Nicole's Facebook page 596 00:31:12,344 --> 00:31:14,482 was becoming increasingly weirder. 597 00:31:14,482 --> 00:31:17,482 So there would be long, rambling messages 598 00:31:17,482 --> 00:31:20,241 about "The truth will come out," um, 599 00:31:21,172 --> 00:31:23,034 "People should feel sorry for me," 600 00:31:23,034 --> 00:31:24,103 and all of this stuff, 601 00:31:24,103 --> 00:31:26,275 and it was, kind of, rubbing me up the wrong way 602 00:31:26,275 --> 00:31:28,137 because she still wasn't saying 603 00:31:29,034 --> 00:31:30,551 yes or no, 604 00:31:30,551 --> 00:31:32,793 "I've lied," or "I've done something wrong." 605 00:31:32,793 --> 00:31:36,448 So I put a message underneath one of her posts 606 00:31:36,448 --> 00:31:38,103 that just said, you know, 607 00:31:38,103 --> 00:31:40,551 "All of the above is very touching and moving, 608 00:31:41,896 --> 00:31:44,862 but did you go to Spain to have cancer treatment? 609 00:31:44,862 --> 00:31:46,655 That's all I need to know." 610 00:31:46,655 --> 00:31:49,000 She answered me in a private message, 611 00:31:49,586 --> 00:31:52,275 which really... Alarm bells. 612 00:31:52,275 --> 00:31:54,172 "Why are you answering me in a private message?" 613 00:31:54,172 --> 00:31:56,172 So I copied what she had written 614 00:31:56,172 --> 00:31:57,793 and I took it back on to a public forum, 615 00:31:57,793 --> 00:32:00,379 and I said, "This is a public space. 616 00:32:00,379 --> 00:32:02,689 You're talking about, we all need to feel sorry for you 617 00:32:02,689 --> 00:32:04,689 and this is going wrong, that's going wrong. 618 00:32:04,689 --> 00:32:07,344 I've asked you, just tell me, 619 00:32:07,344 --> 00:32:10,931 did you go to Spain for your treatment for cancer?" 620 00:32:11,689 --> 00:32:12,551 And that was it. 621 00:32:12,551 --> 00:32:14,034 She sent me a message, saying to me, 622 00:32:14,034 --> 00:32:16,000 "If this is triggering for you..." 623 00:32:16,758 --> 00:32:19,551 Then I was like, "Do not patronize me. 624 00:32:19,551 --> 00:32:21,344 This is not triggering for me. 625 00:32:21,344 --> 00:32:23,965 What this is is me catching you out. 626 00:32:24,551 --> 00:32:25,758 You were quite happy to have 627 00:32:25,758 --> 00:32:27,275 little private conversations with me. 628 00:32:27,275 --> 00:32:30,724 I'm asking you, publicly, just let me know." 629 00:32:31,000 --> 00:32:32,482 And, um... 630 00:32:32,482 --> 00:32:36,896 I then, she... She started saying if this is triggering for me, 631 00:32:36,896 --> 00:32:39,482 um, maybe, you know, we need to talk, 632 00:32:39,482 --> 00:32:40,689 and I just like, "No. 633 00:32:40,689 --> 00:32:42,586 No, I'm not interested. You cannot... 634 00:32:42,586 --> 00:32:44,482 You are not telling me what I need to hear." 635 00:32:44,482 --> 00:32:46,655 So I just cut her off. So I blocked her. 636 00:32:47,000 --> 00:32:47,896 And that was that. 637 00:32:47,896 --> 00:32:49,482 Cut dead. 638 00:32:49,482 --> 00:32:51,862 I was, kind of, at the point where I just thought, 639 00:32:53,172 --> 00:32:56,517 "Well, until found guilty 640 00:32:57,551 --> 00:33:02,586 and everything is being looked at properly, 641 00:33:02,586 --> 00:33:06,689 I can't really make my mind up that something's going on here, you know. 642 00:33:06,689 --> 00:33:11,137 [Jo] My stomach turned, and you feel like the blood drains out of you. 643 00:33:11,137 --> 00:33:13,655 Never in my wildest dreams would I think 644 00:33:14,379 --> 00:33:16,241 that someone would be twisted enough 645 00:33:17,034 --> 00:33:20,034 to lie about having cancer. 646 00:33:20,034 --> 00:33:23,034 Um, and to sit opposite me and watch me cry. 647 00:33:23,034 --> 00:33:25,034 So she was explaining to me 648 00:33:25,034 --> 00:33:26,931 that she needed treatment. I was crying. 649 00:33:30,068 --> 00:33:32,482 [Cananur] When we broke down Nicole's expenditure, 650 00:33:32,482 --> 00:33:35,793 what we identified actually was an individual 651 00:33:35,793 --> 00:33:38,000 who had a really lavish lifestyle. 652 00:33:38,000 --> 00:33:41,172 Trips abroad, trips out in London. 653 00:33:41,172 --> 00:33:43,068 And also, which stood out, 654 00:33:43,068 --> 00:33:45,793 was an almost £4,000 expenditure 655 00:33:45,793 --> 00:33:49,000 on a private box at Tottenham Hotspur football club. 656 00:33:49,000 --> 00:33:51,689 Wow, this wasn't an individual that was using that money wisely 657 00:33:51,689 --> 00:33:53,068 for medical treatment. 658 00:33:53,068 --> 00:33:57,758 This was an individual who was financing her own lavish lifestyle. 659 00:34:01,275 --> 00:34:05,137 [Jo] A friend of mine said that he often goes over to the casino, 660 00:34:05,137 --> 00:34:07,551 and he had seen her over there 661 00:34:07,551 --> 00:34:09,793 sort of using quite a bit of money. 662 00:34:09,793 --> 00:34:12,862 And I was like, "No, no, it's not her style." 663 00:34:12,862 --> 00:34:15,482 She's not that trashy, she's quite elegant, 664 00:34:15,482 --> 00:34:17,275 and, you know, I think quite sophisticated. 665 00:34:17,275 --> 00:34:20,448 I couldn't really imagine her at the local casino. 666 00:34:22,793 --> 00:34:25,965 What we also uncovered, as a result of her financial activity, 667 00:34:25,965 --> 00:34:29,137 was someone, in fact, who was addicted to gambling. 668 00:34:29,137 --> 00:34:33,000 In 2018, she was spending up to £60,000 a year 669 00:34:33,000 --> 00:34:36,000 at a local casinos and online gambling websites. 670 00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:39,793 So this was an individual who was suffering not with cancer, 671 00:34:39,793 --> 00:34:42,068 but with a serious gambling addiction. 672 00:34:42,068 --> 00:34:44,241 When we look at how somebody like Nicole, 673 00:34:44,241 --> 00:34:46,551 who, on the surface, seems quite successful, 674 00:34:46,551 --> 00:34:51,000 ends up in a situation where she's conning even people that she knows, 675 00:34:51,000 --> 00:34:53,689 we have to ask, "How and why does that happen?" 676 00:34:53,689 --> 00:34:57,068 We know that she was spending very large amounts 677 00:34:57,068 --> 00:34:59,448 so it's very possible that she formed an addiction to this 678 00:34:59,448 --> 00:35:04,344 and felt like she kept on having to commit these cons 679 00:35:04,344 --> 00:35:07,137 just so that she can make up the money to feed her habit. 680 00:35:10,448 --> 00:35:13,344 [Jo] After I flopped Nicole on Facebook, 681 00:35:13,344 --> 00:35:16,862 um, I was contacted by GoFundMe 682 00:35:17,586 --> 00:35:19,000 that, um... 683 00:35:19,000 --> 00:35:22,379 And they told me they were gonna give the money back. 684 00:35:22,379 --> 00:35:24,896 The money came back, but obviously, that was so difficult for me 685 00:35:24,896 --> 00:35:26,793 because it was a night where people had just come in 686 00:35:26,793 --> 00:35:29,344 and put bits and pieces of money. 687 00:35:29,344 --> 00:35:30,862 I didn't know who it belonged to. 688 00:35:31,758 --> 00:35:32,862 So I just put a thing on my Facebook 689 00:35:32,862 --> 00:35:34,172 saying, "If everybody's happy, 690 00:35:34,172 --> 00:35:36,655 I'm gonna donate this to a charity," and that's what we did. 691 00:35:38,896 --> 00:35:42,482 So I got a message from the police just after I'd found out. 692 00:35:42,482 --> 00:35:45,000 They just asked me, um, 693 00:35:45,000 --> 00:35:47,586 about the larger amounts that I had donated 694 00:35:47,586 --> 00:35:51,000 because I donated them directly to her bank account. 695 00:35:51,000 --> 00:35:54,275 I told them that that money came back, 696 00:35:54,275 --> 00:35:56,241 uh, which was baffling to me. 697 00:35:56,241 --> 00:35:58,586 [Dr. Das] Nicole borrowed £2,000 off Jo, 698 00:35:58,586 --> 00:36:01,034 and then returned it fairly quickly. 699 00:36:01,034 --> 00:36:03,379 And we have to ask ourselves why she did this. 700 00:36:03,379 --> 00:36:06,896 It's possible that she felt an element of guilt at that time, 701 00:36:06,896 --> 00:36:10,689 but it's also very feasible that she was actually playing the long game. 702 00:36:10,689 --> 00:36:13,758 So she's trying to gain more confidence from her friend, 703 00:36:13,758 --> 00:36:15,379 knowing that she could probably wrangle 704 00:36:15,379 --> 00:36:17,413 more money out of her in the future. 705 00:36:20,379 --> 00:36:23,068 [Cananur] So Nicole was brought in for a second interview. 706 00:36:23,068 --> 00:36:26,379 We put it to her, transaction by transaction, 707 00:36:26,379 --> 00:36:30,000 that that money, in fact, was to support both her lavish lifestyle 708 00:36:30,000 --> 00:36:31,862 and a gambling addiction. 709 00:36:31,862 --> 00:36:34,482 We also put it to Nicole, damning evidence, 710 00:36:34,482 --> 00:36:36,482 as a result of the police making enquiries 711 00:36:36,482 --> 00:36:39,172 with the hospital in Spain, 712 00:36:39,172 --> 00:36:41,551 that, in fact, Nicole was never a patient in that hospital 713 00:36:41,551 --> 00:36:43,275 and, in fact, that Dr. Suarez, 714 00:36:43,275 --> 00:36:46,448 who she stated was treating her, didn't exist. 715 00:36:47,482 --> 00:36:49,275 Now at this point, you would think 716 00:36:49,275 --> 00:36:51,586 Nicole would put her hands up and accept 717 00:36:51,586 --> 00:36:53,344 that she was lying, but no. 718 00:36:53,344 --> 00:36:56,379 Throughout that interview, no remorse, 719 00:36:56,379 --> 00:36:58,655 no recognition whatsoever 720 00:36:58,655 --> 00:37:00,793 of all the individuals that she defrauded. 721 00:37:00,793 --> 00:37:03,482 Merely someone who, in her own head, 722 00:37:03,482 --> 00:37:06,379 was a cancer victim who was gaining money 723 00:37:06,379 --> 00:37:08,000 solely for medical treatment, 724 00:37:08,000 --> 00:37:11,379 which we argued was because of her gambling addiction. 725 00:37:11,379 --> 00:37:13,172 So, at the end of that second interview, 726 00:37:13,172 --> 00:37:15,137 she was bailed, pending a decision 727 00:37:15,137 --> 00:37:17,103 by the Crown Prosecution Service. 728 00:37:17,103 --> 00:37:20,000 Now they came back reasonably quickly with a decision 729 00:37:20,000 --> 00:37:23,172 that they were happy there was enough overwhelming evidence 730 00:37:23,172 --> 00:37:26,482 to charge Nicole with fraud by false representation 731 00:37:26,482 --> 00:37:27,724 and to take it to court. 732 00:37:58,689 --> 00:38:00,103 [Drummond] Trials on fraud cases are rare. 733 00:38:00,103 --> 00:38:02,068 The prosecution often has a wealth of evidence 734 00:38:02,068 --> 00:38:04,000 really setting out the criminality 735 00:38:04,000 --> 00:38:07,413 and step by step, how they took this money and what they did with it. 736 00:38:07,413 --> 00:38:09,379 It's very easy to convince juries of that 737 00:38:09,379 --> 00:38:11,482 because they have the financial records. 738 00:38:11,482 --> 00:38:13,620 So to have somebody go into trial 739 00:38:13,620 --> 00:38:15,448 and saying, "I didn't do it" is rare. 740 00:38:15,448 --> 00:38:17,758 [Dr. Das] Nicole refused to admit guilt. 741 00:38:17,758 --> 00:38:19,931 And we have to question why this is. 742 00:38:19,931 --> 00:38:23,034 One possibility was that she was actually delusional. 743 00:38:23,034 --> 00:38:25,965 She believed the lies that she told about her cancer. 744 00:38:25,965 --> 00:38:27,965 But I think it's probably more likely 745 00:38:27,965 --> 00:38:29,586 that she was so wrapped up in her own lies 746 00:38:29,586 --> 00:38:33,241 and she was so confident in her ability to lie and manipulate 747 00:38:33,241 --> 00:38:36,275 that she refused to give this up even to the bitter end. 748 00:38:38,241 --> 00:38:39,827 [Drummond] What separates this trial out 749 00:38:39,827 --> 00:38:42,586 from all the hundreds and thousands of other fraud cases that you see 750 00:38:42,586 --> 00:38:44,758 passing through the court system, is the picture. 751 00:38:44,758 --> 00:38:47,379 It's compelling, it's heartbreaking and it's fake. 752 00:38:48,172 --> 00:38:49,896 This was her attending hospital 753 00:38:49,896 --> 00:38:51,724 for a relatively minor procedure 754 00:38:51,724 --> 00:38:54,482 not linked to cancer, that she put online, 755 00:38:54,482 --> 00:38:55,965 knowing that people would assume 756 00:38:55,965 --> 00:38:57,344 that it's linked to her cancer treatment 757 00:38:57,344 --> 00:38:59,310 and it will pull on people's heartstrings. 758 00:38:59,310 --> 00:39:04,344 This was an individual who was not gonna budge in any way with her story. 759 00:39:04,344 --> 00:39:06,206 She was adamant she was dying of cancer. 760 00:39:06,206 --> 00:39:09,827 And because of that, the GoFundMe page, in her eyes, was justified. 761 00:39:10,896 --> 00:39:12,827 [Drummond] This wasn't a case where the defendant 762 00:39:12,827 --> 00:39:15,655 had squirreled away this fraud money for use later. 763 00:39:15,655 --> 00:39:17,758 There were no off-shore bank accounts, 764 00:39:17,758 --> 00:39:19,896 there were no clever ways to conceal it. 765 00:39:19,896 --> 00:39:21,275 She was brazen in what she did. 766 00:39:21,275 --> 00:39:23,310 She paid for a box at Tottenham Hotspur, 767 00:39:23,310 --> 00:39:25,655 trips to Rome, trips to Barcelona, 768 00:39:25,655 --> 00:39:28,551 all using this money that she was a swindling via GoFundMe. 769 00:39:42,241 --> 00:39:45,482 I don't... I don't think it was a particularly fair sentence. 770 00:39:45,482 --> 00:39:48,068 I think treatment would be a better option, 771 00:39:48,068 --> 00:39:49,068 if I'm being really honest, 772 00:39:49,068 --> 00:39:50,724 because there's obviously some kind of... 773 00:39:52,310 --> 00:39:54,172 mental illness or, you know, 774 00:39:54,172 --> 00:39:55,482 something that isn't quite right. 775 00:39:55,482 --> 00:39:57,689 Who... Who would come up with that? 776 00:39:58,862 --> 00:39:59,896 You know, why? 777 00:40:00,586 --> 00:40:02,413 And I just think, the damage that you caused 778 00:40:02,413 --> 00:40:03,689 to your family and your and friends, 779 00:40:03,689 --> 00:40:06,448 is it really worth £45,000? 780 00:40:06,448 --> 00:40:09,793 She must have planned this over a good period of two years, 781 00:40:09,793 --> 00:40:11,000 the whole thing. 782 00:40:11,000 --> 00:40:13,103 By networking with people, 783 00:40:13,103 --> 00:40:15,103 getting to know people, 784 00:40:15,103 --> 00:40:16,517 building friendships, 785 00:40:16,517 --> 00:40:19,482 building relationships with people 786 00:40:19,482 --> 00:40:23,137 in order to... In order to get this thing done. 787 00:40:24,655 --> 00:40:26,310 When people realized 788 00:40:27,034 --> 00:40:28,620 what had happened, 789 00:40:28,620 --> 00:40:31,206 there was a lot of anger. A lot of anger. 790 00:40:32,275 --> 00:40:34,275 [Jo] It was all calculated from the beginning. 791 00:40:34,275 --> 00:40:36,034 She knew who to target, 792 00:40:36,034 --> 00:40:37,655 she knew what to say, 793 00:40:37,655 --> 00:40:42,551 she, you know, emotionally sort of tugged 794 00:40:42,551 --> 00:40:43,689 at certain people. 795 00:40:43,689 --> 00:40:45,413 Yeah, she knew what she was doing, I think. 796 00:40:47,517 --> 00:40:49,172 [Dr. Das] The fact that Nicole can lie 797 00:40:49,172 --> 00:40:53,310 to her close friends and rip them off so effortlessly 798 00:40:53,310 --> 00:40:57,103 suggests that she might have some traits of being a psychopath. 799 00:40:57,862 --> 00:41:00,310 Psychopaths, as well as lacking empathy 800 00:41:00,310 --> 00:41:02,551 and being impulsive, and not caring 801 00:41:02,551 --> 00:41:04,344 about the rights of other people 802 00:41:04,344 --> 00:41:07,689 tend to be very cunning and they tend to be very manipulative. 803 00:41:08,655 --> 00:41:11,413 The judge was clear when he was sentencing Nicole. 804 00:41:11,413 --> 00:41:15,103 This was a cunning and deceitful act that she carried out 805 00:41:15,103 --> 00:41:17,206 against these 600 people. 806 00:41:24,689 --> 00:41:28,034 And there was reports that as she was sentenced, she was sobbing in the... 807 00:41:28,034 --> 00:41:30,034 So if you look at Nicole Elkabbas, 808 00:41:30,034 --> 00:41:31,517 her digital footprint online 809 00:41:31,517 --> 00:41:34,000 was an individual who looked professional, 810 00:41:34,000 --> 00:41:35,689 was someone you wouldn't suspect 811 00:41:35,689 --> 00:41:38,448 was anything other than a decent member of the community. 812 00:41:38,448 --> 00:41:40,793 Lo and behold, she was the polar opposite. 813 00:41:40,793 --> 00:41:42,758 An individual who was a fraudster. 814 00:41:42,758 --> 00:41:45,310 Someone that was conning many, many people 815 00:41:45,310 --> 00:41:46,482 for financial gain. 816 00:41:47,000 --> 00:41:48,000 Who would've known? 817 00:41:57,724 --> 00:42:00,344 I feel quite sorry for her in some ways, 818 00:42:00,344 --> 00:42:02,310 that somebody feels that they have to, 819 00:42:03,931 --> 00:42:06,413 I mean, pretend that their life is different to what it is. 820 00:42:08,448 --> 00:42:09,896 I'm still a bit angry. 821 00:42:09,896 --> 00:42:13,275 Um, but I don't know whether she is a complete fraudster 822 00:42:13,275 --> 00:42:15,551 or whether she's mentally ill. I don't know. 823 00:42:15,551 --> 00:42:17,310 [Marc] Thinking about Nicole now, 824 00:42:17,310 --> 00:42:18,862 you know, to be honest with you, 825 00:42:19,931 --> 00:42:21,206 I'm really sad. 826 00:42:22,689 --> 00:42:25,655 And this is not defending anyone in any way whatsoever. 827 00:42:26,517 --> 00:42:28,310 But what drives a person 828 00:42:29,379 --> 00:42:30,758 to actually do that? 829 00:42:32,344 --> 00:42:35,827 You know, was it pure greed? 830 00:42:35,827 --> 00:42:37,000 Was it debt? 831 00:42:38,000 --> 00:42:39,482 What was it? 832 00:42:39,482 --> 00:42:42,931 All successful con artists are good at manipulation. They're good at lying. 833 00:42:42,931 --> 00:42:46,344 But it feels like Nicole has taken this to an extra level. 834 00:42:46,344 --> 00:42:49,068 The people involved in the case, the police, the prosecutors, 835 00:42:49,068 --> 00:42:52,965 even they said that she was extremely convincing 836 00:42:52,965 --> 00:42:55,172 to the degree that they started questioning 837 00:42:55,172 --> 00:42:56,655 in whether there might have been 838 00:42:56,655 --> 00:42:58,758 an element of truth in some of what she said. 839 00:42:59,517 --> 00:43:03,241 I would say what Nicole has done to me 840 00:43:03,241 --> 00:43:06,103 has not affected me in any way. 841 00:43:06,103 --> 00:43:09,862 She does not have the power to stop me from being who I am 842 00:43:09,862 --> 00:43:13,137 or from helping somebody if they need help. 843 00:43:13,137 --> 00:43:16,482 She is one bad egg in a sea of people 844 00:43:16,482 --> 00:43:17,655 that are pretty okay. 845 00:43:18,034 --> 00:43:19,206 It's really rare. 846 00:43:19,206 --> 00:43:21,448 She's not gonna change my personality 847 00:43:21,448 --> 00:43:22,896 or mess me up. No way. 848 00:43:22,896 --> 00:43:25,241 It's just not... That is just not gonna happen.