NEELAM Desai appeared at Croydon Crown Court on March 3 and pleaded guilty to a series of frauds, including running an international travel business while bankrupt and writing fraudulent cheques from her mother's bank account.
Yet, minutes before entering the dock, she was trying to trick her latest victim, 32-year-old Amar from west London, out of more money.
The transcript of their conversation on mobile messaging service WhatsApp, handed to the Advertiser this week, shows that at 11.32am that day, Desai asked Amar, who had already been duped out of £12,292 since January, for more cash.
"[It's] a long story," she said, "but can you do me a favour? On your way home or to work, can you pay £189 into the account you paid into on Friday?
"That's all, no more. I got it wrong. Trust me. [Keep] this between us. Don't worry."
At the same time, another man – a 35-year-old from Leicester – described to the Advertiser how he had been conned out of £35,500, in what would turn out to be virtually identical circumstances.
On March 4, the Advertiser visited Desai's home in Beulah Grove, Selhurst, to put his allegations to her.
The 33-year-old, now a convicted fraudster waiting to be sentenced, declined to comment and called the police.
The following day she reported our journalist, Gareth Davies, to the police, claiming he had identified himself as a police officer, put his foot in the door to stop it from closing, and then "wrestled" with her, injuring her wrist.
She later retracted the allegations.
However, a few hours before our visit, she asked Amar for money again.
By this point Desai had used a number of ploys to persuade him to hand over thousands of pounds – including claiming to be fundraising for a children's charity.
On March 4, the woman he knew as Rima Vaghela – a name Desai used with other victims – requested £376 for "taxes and visas" for their forthcoming trip to Las Vegas. Amar paid the money into an account under the name Desouza, also used in one of Desai's other dating website scams.
On March 7, the Advertiser published its first report, accusing Desai of scamming the man from Leicester out of his life-savings after contacting him through Asian matrimony site Shaadi.com
After the story was published, Desai complained to the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) about the fictitious assault and even claimed our reporter telephoned her home and said: "You'll never stop our story. We are the winners, you are the loser."
Desai, however, tripped up. She gave the PCC the phone number she used to send messages to her latest victim and two others.
The day after the story was published, "Rima" asked for yet more money from Amar. This time she wanted £350 for a "pamper afternoon" during the holiday.
"It will be a nice way to chill out," she said.
Two days later she told him there was £750 left to pay for the sojourn. He paid up on the promise she would refund him the £1,723 he paid for a trip to Barcelona in January, that she cancelled at the last minute. On March 12, Amar paid a further £750 following another expensive upgrade to the 16-night holiday.
On March 14, the Advertiser published a second story about Desai, including an interview with a police detective who said there were potentially "hundreds" more victims of the scams she pleaded guilty to in court.
In the following days, the transcript shows 'Rima Vaghela' asking her unwitting victim, who believed he was speaking to his "perfect" woman, for more cash.
"Everything is done," she declared. "Apart from £199," which she claimed was tax on a room upgrade.
On March 17, she claimed there is an extra £217 to clear and then, the following day, she asked Amar for a "tiny favour": £1,550.
The fraudster provides little explanation, but repeatedly promises he will get all his money back from the previous holidays.
After several other successful attempts to squeeze money from him, on March 24 she said her aunt had died and the trip to Las Vegas should be rearranged (an earlier victim was told an aunt had died in December 2013).
Within hours of breaking the tragic news, however, she persuaded Amar to rearrange the holiday for an initial outlay of £666.
After transferring £17,176 in total since January 6, he finally snapped. "Rima this is the last time I will be transferring money," he said, "The account has literally run out of funds."
"Don't worry," she replied, "I won't ask again."
Meanwhile the Advertiser had published two more stories after tracking down the woman whose photos Desai was sending to the men, and then speaking to another man conned by a woman called Rima Vaghela.
In response, Desai called the police and said she felt "harassed" and "persecuted" by the fact that our reporter had written about her and had asked, politely, for a comment.
On March 31, three police officers visited the Advertiser's office to serve Mr Davies with a Prevention of Harassment letter and warned him that, if he continued, he would be arrested.
This prompted widespread anger from the media and human rights groups, and was picked up by the national newspapers, who plastered Desai's face across their pages. Realising she was exposed, "Rima" tried to cover her tracks by telling the man she had been the victim of identity fraud.
Then, on April 7, she suggested going on another trip and asked him to transfer £179.
But instead, he reported her to the police and contacted us.
