Con artist who tricked her way into the hearts of the rich and famous – WBNews

To her admirers, among them the Duchess of Cambridge’s favourite dress designer, Mariam Mola is a true inspiration. Her tale of giving birth in prison for a fraud committed a decade ago when she was an impressionable 18-year-old appalled those who heard it – among them influential female business leaders who flocked to give her their support. Her story, which was shared with millions of morning television viewers, provided Miss Mola, 27, with the springboard to start a company offering business mentoring to women who were willing to pay up to £200 to attend events at glamorous locations, such as the Bulgari Hotel in Knightsbridge, London, and at Burberry’s flagship store in the capital. Amanda Wakeley, the fashion designer, whose clothes are regularly worn by the Duchess, is a prominent supporter of Miss Mola’s Mentor Matcher, appearing prominently on the front page of its website. But The Daily Telegraph can disclose that Miss Mola’s claims are not all they appear to be. In fact, her real name is Mariam Mbula, who on one occasion preyed on a woman with a Down’s syndrome daughter in order to trick her family out of more than £15,000 by posing as a Foreign Office official. Mbula also uses other pseudonyms, including Nopapa Mbula and Cindy Mbula. Far from being an innocent 18-year-old caught up in a single crime perpetrated by a much older boyfriend, Mbula was a career con artist, who had been jailed not only in the UK but also in Belgium and…more detail