Woman escapes prosecution for dating scam as reporter loses appeal

Tuesday 24th February 2015 13:48 EST
 

A newspaper reporter who tried to expose an alleged serial conwoman has been left with a harassment record while the woman has apparently escaped prosecution over an alleged dating scam, on the ground that she is already in jail and has no assets to seize.

The Metropolitan police has reportedly upheld a complaint by Neelam Desai, a convicted criminal, that she was harassed by a Croydon Advertiser reporter who asked questions about the dating fraud, said to amount to tens of thousands of pounds.

The police were accused of an intrusion on press freedom last April, after three officers allegedly visited the newspaper’s offices in Redhill, Surrey, to threaten Mr Davies with arrest and issue a “prevention of harassment” notice. They allegedly said that the reporter's approaches by email and in person at Desai’s home had left her “feeling intimidated and persecuted”, and warned that any further contact could result in prosecution. Desai had admitted a £230,000 fraud the previous month and is serving a 30-month sentence. She denied involvement in the dating scam during a phone conversation with Mr Davies.

The newspaper has claimed that she tricked men out of tens out thousands of pounds through online cons, which included pretending she was raising money for a sick child. After they exposed she was arrested on suspicion of ten counts of fraud by false representation.

This month the Met rejected Mr Davies’s complaint about their actions. Inspector Claire Robbins reportedly concluded that “the contact made by Mr Davies towards Ms Desai did go beyond what is reasonable”.

However Mr Davies reportedly said the crime report of his actions contained errors, such as stating that he allegedly visited Ms Desai’s house more than once. The Met also allegedly accused him of sending Desai “repeated text messages” but he said he never contacted her that way.  


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