A notorious Hampstead con woman who swindled £1 million from victims by claiming to be a spiritual healer will only pay back a small fraction of what she stole.
D’Souza, 60, extracted the huge sums of cash from 11 people across Hampstead and north London – including opera singers, photographers and solicitors – by claiming to be a shamanic healer with links to the rainforest in Suriname for 12 years, from 1998 to 2010.
She convinced her victims she could cure terminal illnesses, help disabled children or enable women to conceive by sending cash to the Suriname jungle – to be hung from a sacred tree by two other shamans known as Pa and Oma.
Instead, D’Souza spent the money on a lavish lifestyle, renting three or four luxury flats at a time in Hampstead and splashing a fortune on designer bags, clothes, Cartier watches, jewellery, antique furniture and holidays.
D’Souza, whose addresses included Willoughby Road and Perrin’s Lane, in Hampstead, was jailed for 10 years last May for what judge Ian Karsten described as “the worst confidence fraud I have ever dealt with”.
Her victims, including retired opera singer Sylvia Eaves, 83, who was conned out of £250,000, were in the public gallery at Blackfriars Crown Court last Wednesday for a hearing to confiscate her assets.
D’Souza claimed that she had nothing and could not repay a penny. However, Judge Carsten calculated the total current value of her assets as £133,878.85.
He also ordered prosecutors to calculate the value of a house she owns in Suriname, South America, to add to the pot.
The court heard that among the assets she amassed during her crime spree was £81,000 of jewellery, including Cartier and Rolex watches, one worth £12,000 .
Detectives have already seized £45,000 worth of this jewellery found in her Willoughby Road flat, but also discovered receipts for the rest, which is still missing.
The hearing was told that D’Souza shipped £30,000 worth of antique furniture over to her house in Suriname. She also transferred £23,263 cash to a number of accounts there.
Police also found a Harrods card statement in her flat which showed she had bought £14,830 of designer clothes and handbags.
Officers also recovered mobile phones, a Jeep and £2,815 cash from her handbag.
Judge Karsten said after allowing for depreciation, he intended to make a confiscation order to the total value of £133,878.85 plus the price of the Suriname house..
He told victims: “Do not hold your hopes too high. It will be quite a small pot.”
The hearing was adjourned for the house to be valued.
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