Celeb stylist pal of Danniella Westbrook and Kerry Katona who conned disabled woman out of £150k ordered to pay back £1

A FORMER celebrity stylist who fleeced a disabled widow and her daughter out of almost £150,000 in a property scam has to repay just £1, a court has ruled.

Interior designer Rosie Grewal, who is reportedly a pal of celebs Danniella Westbrook and Kerry Katona, was jailed in June 2019 for a series of frauds carried out over three years.

Those duped by the 45-year-old also included an ex-girlfriend of former Another Level singer and record producer Dane Bowers.

But during a confiscation hearing, an elderly victim of Grewal's cried on learning she would not be compensated for any of the money she lost.

Patricia Makucewicz, who suffers from a degenerative spine condition and walks with a stick, had been conned by Grewal into handing over her nest-egg of £130,000 from her late husband's life insurance policy.

But Mrs Makucewicz never received any of the income she had been promised from her "investment" in a rental flat and was repeatedly fobbed off by Grewal, a court heard.

On being told at Maidstone Crown Court, Kent, last week that Grewal had no assets which could be confiscated, the 65-year-old said she now faces having to remortgage her home and getting a job.

She also issued a warning to financial investigators, having been assured that there were powers to seize money if Grewal's financial situation changed, telling the hearing: "She has so many companies and businesses I don't know how you are going to keep track of her."

Grewal appeared in court via a remote link for the Proceeds of Crime Act hearing, having already been released from her 43-month prison sentence.

She has previously been linked to five addresses in Kent, Hertfordshire and France but it is not known at which, if any, she is now living.

The same court heard two years ago that Grewal duped several people into believing their money would be invested in housing near the Bluewater shopping mall in Greenhithe, Kent.

Her total benefit from all the frauds was said to be £172,941, and it was initially believed she had "hidden assets" from which the money could be recovered.

DUPED OUT OF INHERITANCE

But prosecutor Christopher Prior told the court on Wednesday that that belief had now "fallen away" and there was nothing financially available.

Judge Julian Smith, therefore, ordered the businesswoman to pay just £1, or serve one day behind bars in default.

But he assured Mrs Makucewicz the nominal amount meant "the door had been left open a crack" if Grewal's financial position changed.

The pensioner's daughter Kasia, who suffers from cerebral palsy, was also in court for the confiscation hearing.

She was duped out of £18,000 from her inheritance after Grewal offered to assist her with a mortgage.

They reported their suspicions to Kent Police at the time, only for them "to refuse to act", the court was told.

It was only when presented with a report from a private investigator the two women hired in desperation that officers were "persuaded they were dealing with a systematic fraudster", it was said.

Having been arrested in 2015 and while awaiting trial, Grewal jetted off on luxury holidays, including one in March 2017 showing her living it up in Marbella, Spain, with former EastEnders star Danniella.

The two women were reportedly running an online clothing boutique at the time.

'DEPRESSED AND SUICIDAL'

The stylist has also been linked to Atomic Kitten singer Kerry Katona, who designed a furniture range for Grewal's online interiors company, and Big Brother star Lisa Appleton.

Grewal subsequently pleaded guilty to defrauding the Makucewiczs between 2012 and 2015 but then tried to pin the blame on her dead partner as being the brains behind the scam.

This was rejected by the judge who later jailed her.

When jailed, Judge Charles Macdonald QC said the impact of her swindling had been enormous, with Mrs Makucewicz left in financial ruin, depressed and suicidal.

He told the confidence trickster, who lived near Rochester, Kent, at the time of sentencing: "This is the evil done by this sort of offending."

Her other fraud victims were conned when Grewal, posing as a selling agent, told them their payments would secure new-build plots at The Bellway Homes development "St Clements Lakes" in Greenhithe.

One was Gemma Warboys, who dated Dane Bowers for almost two years after meeting him in Marbella in June 2016.

She and two others gave Grewal a total of £4,800.

Mum-of-four Grewal denied defrauding them but was convicted by a jury following a trial in which she spoke of "knowing people" in EastEnders.

Source: Read Full Article