Convicted ex-footballer Medi Abalimba, 32, who dated Love Island's Georgia Steel admits fleecing Thierry Henry's model ex-wife in £160,000 scam and splashing cash on hotels in London and Dubai

Former footballer Medi Abalimba has admitted plundering the bank accounts of Thierry Henry's model ex-wife in a £160,000 scam

A former footballer has admitted plundering the bank accounts of Thierry Henry's model ex-wife in a £160,000 scam.

Medi Abalimba, who dated Love Island's Georgia Steel in 2019, used other people' cash to splash out on luxury stays at five-star hotels under fake identities.

The 32-year-old fleeced Claire Henry out of more than £50,000 earlier this year after raiding her bank accounts to stay at the Corinthia Hotel in Westminster.

He also used Ms Henry's bank card to spend £839 at the Al Habtoor Polo Resort in Dubai.

Ms Henry - also known as Nicole Merry - is the mother of Arsenal legend Thierry Henry's first child and their five-year marriage ended in 2008.

She was said to have accepted £8million from the assistant Belgium coach following a messy divorce battle.

Former Derby County midfielder Abalimba plundered the model's bank account to bankroll a stay at the prestigious Corinthia Hotel in Westminster.

Abalimba was jailed for four years in 2014 after posing as former Chelsea player Gael Kakuta in an almost identical scam.

He used the former Premier League player's identity to run up tabs at five-star hotels, fancy nightclubs and luxury shops around the country.

Abalimba would then make excuses or produce stolen credit cards when asked to settle the bill. 

Abalimba, the ex-boyfriend of Love Island's Georgia Steel (pictured together), used other people' cash to splash out on luxury stays at five-star hotels under fake identities

Ms Henry - also known as Nicole Merry - is the mother of Arsenal legend Thierry Henry's first child and their five-year marriage ended in 2008

He then ran up a £104,000 bill at the plush Rosewood Hotel in central London.

He used another man's card to spend more than £10,000 at the five-star Rosewood which had been altered to show the name 'Miguel Gonzalez'.

He also posed as a wealthy guest to persuade a concierge to spend £104,911 at the Rosewood Hotel on his behalf.

The fraudster then lied to another man that he could pay him back if he spent over £1,250 to rent a Range Rover for him.

In just over a week he racked up more than £3,000 at the Mandarin Oriental in Hyde Park, £7,000 at the swanky Corinthia Hotel in Whitehall and nearly £2,000 at Millennium Knightsbridge in Sloane Street.

He ran up a £5,000 bar tab at Manchester's Club Liv, splashing out up to £500 on two a bottles of champagne and £200-a-bottle Dom Perignon before using the nightclubs backdoor to step into the awaiting chauffeur-driven silver Bentley.

Abalimba 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.

He tried to spend around £28,000 on clothes at Selfridges, in Manchester, including a £765 pair of shoes, £575 shirt and £3,950 earrings for his mother.

But an eagle-eyed security guard prevented Abalimba's driver leaving with the goods and he was later tracked down to a mansion, in Ascot, Thames Valley, which he had rented in the name of Kakuta.

Jailing Abalimba for those scams at Isleworth Crown Court in October 2014, which had a potential loss of £163,000, Judge Robert Atherton said: 'This is a catalogue of offences of sophisticated dishonesty and fraud, representing that you were a person whom you were not.

'I hope that it has not caused to great an embarrassment to the person you professed to be, but as a person who himself is of considerable standing and renown it must have been of considerable embarrassment that his personal details were used.

Abalimba is pictured holding hands with Steel when they were snapped on a night out in London in April

'He is a victim as much or in many ways like others in this case, but the frauds did not begin by you assuming this identity.'

Abalimba had been spared jail in February 2014, after he was convicted of ordering almost £26,000 worth of champagne at Soho burlesque club Cirque du Soir using a false bank card.

He was arrested again while on police bail for trying to pay a £5,000 bar tab with a fake American Express card.

Abalimba had also attempted to buy an £8,950 Rolex watch in July last year from The Watch Gallery, in Westfield White City, but was thwarted by a suspicious shopping attendant.

Abalimba, of Camden, north London, admitted 15 counts of fraud between January 1, 2021, and March 1, 2021.

He also admitted using a forged Illinois driving licence and a fake debit card in the name of 'M J Gonzalez Business' from C Hoare and Co Bank.

Judge Mensah remanded him in custody ahead of his sentencing on September 19 at Wood Green Crown Court.

Congo-born Abalimba started his career as a midfielder playing youth football at the likes of Crystal Palace before he had trials at Manchester United and Manchester City.

He also played for Liverpool reserves before eventually being signed by Derby County for £1.2million but injury cut his career short.