Where is "Football Fraudster" Medi Abalimba now?
The former footballer is the subject of a new documentary.
The Football Fraudster airs tonight on ITV1 and delves into the web of lies spun by footballer Medi Abalimba.
Featuring interviews from those he targeted and the opinions of psychologists who investigated his case, the documentary shows how "over a criminal career spanning two decades, Abalimba develops his MO – coming up with bigger and more elaborate scams, featuring multiple personas and targets, all while living the life of a millionaire with designer clothes, flash cars, helicopters and five-star hotels".
With the documentary already available to stream on Netflix and ITVX, the feature-length documentary airs tonight at 9pm. But where is Medi Abalimba now? Read on to find out more about him, including his current whereabouts.
Who is Medi Abalimba?
Not much is known about Medi Abalimba and his background, other than that he was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but he and his family fled to the UK in the 1990s amid growing tensions.
Abalimba originally had a career in football, playing for Derby County. He also had trails at Southend United, Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool.
Things came to a head for Abalimba in 2014, when he picked out more than £20,000 worth of items at Selfridges at the Trafford Centre in Manchester and was unable to pay the bill.
When he tried to make a payment the following day, a suspicious employee declined to hand over the clothes and jewellery and informed Greater Manchester Police.
It was then that a pattern of fraud became apparent. Across London, Derby and Glasgow, multiple cases of fraud all had links to Abalimba – who had already been given a suspended sentence of six months the year before and ordered to carry out 150 hours of community service.
The fraudulent behaviour included spending £14,000 on a teammate's credit card and duping a woman into paying a £4,633 spa bill and £2,397 for the hire of a Range Rover.
Abalimba was tracked down and charged with several fraud offences. He admitted to 12 charges of fraud.
Abalimba was sentenced to four years in prison, with Judge Robert Atherton noting a "catalogue of offences of sophisticated dishonesty, fraudulently representing that you were a person who you were not".
After serving time, Abalimba met Love Island's Georgia Steel in 2019. They dated for some time before her management discovered who he was, but he denied it when confronted.
Eventually, after he left her home, she never saw him again. Later, after checking her bank account, Steel claimed she was missing a large amount of money. Abalima denied that he was the reason.
In 2020, Abalimba was sent back to prison for crimes relating to Georgia Steel.
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Where is Medi Abalimba now?
Medi Abalimba's current whereabouts are unknown.
In 2021, he was imprisoned for another four years and two months for another 15 counts of fraud, and was reportedly released in early 2023.
The Football Fraudster is available to watch on Netflix and ITVX.
Check out more of our Documentaries coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Authors
Katelyn Mensah is the Entertainment and Factual Writer for Radio Times, covering all major entertainment programmes, reality TV shows and the latest hard-hitting documentaries. She previously worked at The Tab, with a focus on reality TV and showbiz news and has obtained a BA (Hons) in Journalism.
