A woman who conned over £250,000 out of her husband and parents-in-law by pretending to have cancer has been sentenced to four years in jail.
Jasmin Mistry, 36, was jailed at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Friday for fraud by false representation after pleading guilty to the charge in October.
Mistry collected the huge amount of cash from her now ex-husband Vijay Katechia, 40, his family and members of the public over a two-year period between 2015 and 2017, after telling them she had cancer and was in need of money for life-saving treatments.
Mr Katechia told the court the ordeal had totally ruined my faith in humanity.
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He added: Psychologically and emotionally, its something I will never recover from.
Shes a real risk to the public and I would not wish for any individual to suffer what we have.
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Mistry first told her husband that she had cancer in 2013. This claim was supported by a Whatsapp message sent by what he thought was her doctor.
However, investigations revealed that the message was sent by Mistry herself, using a different SIM card.
At the end of December 2014, she told her partner that she had brain cancer and had six months to live, with further messages from another fictitious doctor suggesting that it could be treated in the US – at a cost of around £500,000.
Her former husband then contacted family and friends to ask for donations.
Mistry also conned a man she met through a dating website out of nearly £7,500, and two members of the public to whom she lied about being a trader who could invest their money, and who gave around £10,000.
Mistrys ex-husband became suspicious when a friend of his saw a picture of a brain scan Jasmin had said was taken at one of her consultations.
He found the image on Google, and said that the tumour was so severe that it would be fatal for the person with it.
He then discovered the SIM cards Mistry had used to send messages, and when he confronted her she admitted that she had lied.
Police were contacted in November 2018, and Mistry was arrested.
During an interviewed, Mistry confirmed to officers that she was not terminally ill, and that she did not know why she had lied.
Officers from the East Area Crime Command launched an investigation, led by DC Jon Bounds and DC Dal Riyat.
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They spoke to witnesses, and medical records were obtained which confirmed that Mistry had never been diagnosed with cancer or been advised to seek treatment.
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Her finances were reviewed, and it was found that 20 members of her extended family and eight others had given her money.
The total fraud amount was calculated as £253,122.
She was charged with one count of fraud by false representation on 20 August.
DC Jon Bounds from East Area CID, said: I am glad for the victims of this deceit that they have seen justice. Jasmine Mistry went to extreme lengths to manipulate those closest to her emotionally and financially to defraud her now-former husband and his family out of a large sum of money.
This is a bizarre, shocking case. Our investigation revealed the scale of the fraud and the severity of the offending which has resulted in a substantial custodial sentence.
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