Edgar Davids Art Fraud Case Delayed Again Due to Defendant's Absence

The long-running fraud case involving former Netherlands star Edgar Davids took another twist in London on Friday, when the woman who admitted pawning his £188,000 modern art collection failed to appear for sentencing – blaming a flying piece of luggage.

Nabila Habiby, 39, had been due at Wood Green Crown Court in north London to learn her fate after pleading guilty to two counts of fraud. Instead, her barrister told the court she was in hospital in Belgium.

Hit by a bag. On the way to the airport.

That was the explanation.

Concussion claim and judge’s scepticism

Defence barrister Hannah Thomas said she had received a message at around 9.30am from Habiby’s solicitor.

“On her way to the airport to come here she had been hit on the head by a piece of luggage en route,” Thomas told the court. “She had a concussion, since she passed out, and was taken to the hospital where she remains on a drip.”

Judge Emma Deacon did not hide her concern over the thin paperwork backing up that story. She described the medical evidence from Belgium, where Habiby now lives, as “inadequate”.

Even so, Deacon agreed to adjourn the hearing, deciding that the original judge who took the guilty pleas should be the one to finally pass sentence.

That moment has still not arrived.

A five-year wait for justice

It is now almost five years since Habiby was first charged, following a Metropolitan Police investigation into fraud offences dating back to 2015 and 2016. The case has dragged on through delays, legal manoeuvres and now a dramatic non-appearance.

The first attempt to sentence her, in March, collapsed when Habiby tried – unsuccessfully – to withdraw her guilty pleas. She remained on bail, with a clear warning hanging over her: she could face up to 34 months in prison.

More than a year later, the sentence remains on hold.

How Davids discovered the fraud

The story began in December 2014, when Davids, then moving from his home in Hadley Wood, Hertfordshire, to an apartment in central London, handed his keys to Habiby. She was working as a wealth manager and was entrusted with arranging storage for his possessions.

Among them: a valuable collection of works by contemporary artists Paul Insect and Ron English, pieces Davids had bought from the Opera Gallery in New York between 2006 and 2012. The collection was valued at £188,000.

Instead of putting them safely into storage, Habiby took 37 paintings and works of art to pawnbrokers. She secured £31,500 in loans against them, using Davids’s collection as collateral.

Davids did not realise what had happened until the loans went unpaid, the pawn shops sold on the art to collectors around the world, and one buyer contacted him to ask about the history of a painting.

Only then did the scale of the damage become clear.

Missing works and the next court date

Some of the pieces have since been traced and recovered. But the court heard that 25 works of art are still missing, scattered who-knows-where in private collections.

Habiby has now been ordered to attend court for sentencing on 23 September and to provide a full medical report to justify her absence on Friday.

After years of delay, the question hangs over the case: will she finally walk into the courtroom next time?