Featured Image Credit: Channel 4
Topics: Mental Health, Sex and Relationships, Weddings, Crime, Channel 4
Poppy Bilderbeck
Topics: Mental Health, Sex and Relationships, Weddings, Crime, Channel 4
A woman has opened up about being months away from marrying who she thought was the love of her life when she discovered he wasn't the 'real gentleman' he'd presented himself as.
When Lord Bertie Underwood swooped into Megan Clarke's life, the 27-year-old wasn't searching for love, but his charm and thoughtfulness alongside lavish gifts and date nights won her over.
Little did Megan know her Cinderella story would have far from a happy ending.
Megan explained to Metro the pair first met when Bertie walked into the bar she worked at in the Isle of Wight, UK in 2017.
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Fast forward to a month later - with lots of date nights, rides in his Bentley car, flowers and Harrods gifts - and she'd moved into his house - a three-story home on the seafront.
Christmas day came around and Bertie proposed with an expensive Cartier diamond ring, telling Megan she could become an official 'Lady'.
Megan even upped and left her job at the bar to join Bertie's own business selling watches.
Here's where the warning 'if something sounds too good to be true' should start creeping into your mind.
Letters started showing up at the house addressed to other people and a year-and-a-half in, Megan began growing suspicious.
A search of Bertie's office led to her discovering more letters to other names and so Megan did a deep dive on the internet, which revealed Bertie was actually a con artist named Robert Madejski.
Megan found out he'd set up multiple credit cards in her name, leaving her with around $40,000 in debt.
And Megan isn't the only person who's fallen victim to Madejski's scam, it reported he used Grindr to target men too.
Megan explained she's 'a trusting person until people give [her] a reason not to', and ultimately, Madejski was 'good at what he did' and 'never slipped up'.
She reflected: "Every single person he’s done this to and had sexual relationships with have been different. There is absolutely no pattern in type, gender, or age, which makes me think there weren’t real feelings ever involved."
Madejski was arrested for unrelated fraud charges but halfway through serving a five year sentence he escaped and has been on the run ever since.
Megan - who's taking part in Channel 4 documentary Love Cheats to raise awareness - resolved: "Without a single doubt in my mind, I know he will be doing exactly the same thing to somebody else right now, and they will be completely oblivious as to who he is. I hope getting his face out there will lead to him being found."
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, you can contact Victim Support on 08 08 16 89 111, start a live chat, or visit the website, all of which are available 24 hours seven days a week.