Medi Abalimba, an ex-flame of Georgia Steel and Thierry Henry’s ex-wife Claire Merry, once earned £20,000-a-week at Derby County. He turned to fraud after his football career ended
The conman ex of Love Island star Georgia Steel who became known as ‘The Football Fraudster’ is back behind bars after being caught in the US.
Medi Abalimba, 35, who played for a number of clubs and had trials with Liverpool and Manchester City, also dated Thierry Henry’s ex-wife.
He became the star of a hit Netflix documentary after a string of high-profile former flames revealed how they were duped by the fraudster.
Abalimba swindled thousands by tricking women so he could fund a champagne lifestyle of luxury hotels, helicopter trips and holidays.
He targeted wealthy victims while posing as a Premier League player – despite hanging up his boots years earlier.
Henry’s ex-wife Claire Merry and reality star Georgia told the Netflix documentary how they were tricked by Abalimba.
The Congo-born fraudster stole from both women – defrauding Georgia of £13,000 and Claire out of more than £50,000.
He was convicted of a string of fraud offences and jailed for four years and two months in early 2023.
But Abalimba breached the conditions of his licence by fleeing the UK, sparking an international manhunt.
At the time of the Netflix film – ‘The Football Fraudster’ – his whereabouts were a mystery.
But now he is back behind bars after police in the UK and America worked together to track him down.
PC Sarah Baker, of Derbyshire Police, discovered he had changed his name to Michi Jordan and was travelling on a new passport.
Officials from the Department of Homeland Security in the US quickly tracked the conman down and arrested him.
Abalimba, previously of Derby, was extradited back to Britain last month and recalled to prison, where he will remain until October next year.
PC Baker 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.
“He was quickly located and arrested by US authorities.
“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.”
Abalimba moved to the UK with his family aged five and joined Southend United before signing for Derby County for £1.2m in 2009.
He also played for clubs including Crystal Palace, Fulham, Oldham Athletic and Southend United.
When his career started to decline in 2012, he worked part-time at a taxi firm but began pretending to be Chelsea player Gael Kakuta.
He was first convicted for fraud related offences in 2013, which saw him serve six months in prison for his crimes.
He had begun a relationship with Claire Merry when he was arrested again in 2019.
While in jail, he maintained daily phone calls with her, claiming he was on military service in Kuwait.
Claire reported hearing background noises “consistent with a military operation”.
But she later discovered unauthorised transactions amounting to £50,000 from her bank account.
The former player had also previously been in a relationship with Love Island star Georgia after meeting her in a Mayfair nightclub.
He falsely claimed to be a US government agent and chatted her up using a bogus American accent.
He was jailed again in 2021 after plundering the bank accounts of model Chloe Henry, claiming to be a US Navy Seal in a £160,000 scam.
