A wealth manager and trusted friend of Dutch football star Edgar Davids could face jail after failing to withdraw her guilty plea for fraud. Nabila Habiby, 39, secured loans totalling £31,500 on 37 paintings and works of art after Mr Davids handed her keys to his home in Hadley Wood, Hertfordshire, and left her to take care of his possessions.
Former Premier League star Davids, 53, who played for Barcelona, the Netherlands, and Tottenham, had a modern art collection worth £188,000 which he entrusted to Habiby when he relocated to a central London apartment in December 2014. But he only discovered that the collection - which he believed was in a Safestore storage locker in Enfield, North London - was gone when he was messaged on Instagram by a buyer from Hong Kong, who had seen his name written on the back of one of the pieces. He then found out that his paintings had been auctioned off by pawnbrokers after Habiby had defaulted on loans and used his collection as collateral.
Habiby pleaded guilty last September to two counts of fraud and has been warned she could face up to 34 months in prison. But her sentencing hearing was delayed after she mounted a bid to withdraw the guilty pleas, arguing she had not understood what she was admitting to, and that she felt under pressure to confess to the crimes. Habiby also put forward emails she said were newly unearthed and came from Mr Davids, where it is suggested he told her to 'get rid of the paintings'.
Prosecutor Mark Seymour told a hearing at Wood Green Crown Court there was no proof that the emails were genuine and argued there is an 'obvious likelihood these are emails which have been falsified'. Habiby argued that she had 'misunderstood' the elements of the criminal offences, had struggled to hear from the dock and complained about a 'hectic' day in court with Tube strikes and a journalist sitting in the public gallery. She insisted the new emails were genuine and provided her with a viable defence at trial.
But Judge Tim Godfrey rejected Habiby's bid to withdraw her guilty pleas, pointing out she had refused to allow examination of her discussions with her lawyers and there was 'real doubt as to the authenticity' of the new emails. Judge Godfrey said: 'I found Ms Habiby's evidence in court to be altogether vague, evasive and unworthy of belief. She claimed not to understand what was taking place and what she was being asked to do with being rearraigned. I simply don't believe that.'
The court heard Mr Davids placed his faith in Habiby, who was a friend, to make arrangements for his possessions to go into storage when moving from his Hertfordshire mansion to a smaller central London apartment in December 2014. Habiby took his collection of works by artists Paul Insect and Ron English, which he had bought from the Opera Gallery in New York between 2006 and 2012, to pawnbrokers in 2015 and 2016.
Now, Habiby claims the money from these transactions was distributed according to Mr Davids' instructions, including to his then-girlfriend. But the judge found she had produced no evidence to back up this claim. Mr Davids has since recovered 11 of his paintings, but he lost 25 works of art after they were sold on by the brokers when Habiby defaulted on the loans.
Habiby, who previously worked as a wealth manager and has degrees in applied science and international business, also has a conviction for defrauding another friend, in 2016, by using her bank card to pay almost £3,000 of rent on a Cadogan Square flat in Knightsbridge. Habiby watched the judge's ruling on Wednesday over a videolink from her home in Belgium.
When entering her guilty pleas last September, nearly four years after first being charged, Habiby was warned she faced a possible sentence of up to 34 months in prison. When giving evidence on Monday, she insisted that she 'had the permission of Mr Davids' to dispose of the paintings, claiming: 'He asked me to do something and I did it for him.' She described Mr Davids as 'my best friend, he was like my older brother' and said she had helped him with investments while staying at his home. Habiby has been ordered to return to the UK to be sentenced on July 3.
In September last year, a court heard how Davids, who was nicknamed 'The Pitbull' because of his aggressive tackling style, had struck up a friendship with Habiby and she lived with him for a few months in 2014, as well as being employed by him. She had a set of keys to his home. In July 2014, she allegedly took two 'Burning Man' pieces by British contemporary artist Paul Insect, using them to get a £7,000 loan from a broker in Weybridge. After she failed to pay back the money, one of the artworks was sold to recoup the broker's losses. When Davids relocated to central London, he had trusted Habiby to place his possessions, including his art collection, in storage as it didn't fit in his new apartment. Habiby allegedly raided the storage unit in 2016, using a further 33 Paul Insect works and two pieces of art by American artist Ron English to get a £24,500 loan from another broker.
Prosecutor Mark Seymour told the court: 'He had trusted her and she had stolen from him. He had an emotional connection to the paintings. The Ron English paintings were unique.' Seymour told the court that Habiby had obtained an invoice with her name on it and forged gallery paperwork. The gallery later confirmed that the invoice was a fake and pointed out other mistakes that marked it out as a fraud. Seymour claimed '(Habiby) had no intention of paying back the loans, and the inevitable consequence was a fire sale' since 26 of the stolen paintings were sold for around £70,000 – significantly below the prices Davids had originally paid. When questioned in 2018, Habiby denied stealing the artwork from Davids or any involvement in frauds. She told police she worked as a 'freelance consultant' and received money from her parents, and had a £5,000 a month income. She also said that she had previously been 'good friends' with Davids, but that they were no longer on speaking terms.
