00:00:05
NARRATOR: Every fraud
begins with a promise, but most don't end in a murder. - I think all murder cases
are extremely traumatic.
00:00:17
But with this case, it
also goes beyond that. NARRATOR: A quick fortune, easy
money, or a life torn apart.
00:00:26
BRYANNA FOX: He was trying to
get as much money as he could. Almost seemed like he wasn't
really even trying to hide
00:00:31
what he had done that much. NARRATOR: But behind
these illusions lie calculated
deceptions carefully
00:00:37
hidden in plain sight. FIONA HOTSTON
MOORE: Romance fraud is perpetrated on a victim
who thinks that the person
00:00:45
is their partner, their lover. NARRATOR: Sometimes
these criminals are backed into a corner,
and feel their only way out
00:00:54
is to kill. SENIOR INVESTIGATING
OFFICER: We called it the dirty
rotten scoundrel case,
00:00:58
like the Steve Martin film,
except this was no comedy. This was a tragedy. [THEME MUSIC]
00:01:24
MARTIN EVANS: So the first
I knew of this case is when I received a press
release from Scotland Yard
00:01:30
flagging up a missing person. I think the contrast of the two
individuals who were tragically
00:01:36
brought together
really makes this case particularly stand out. NARRATOR: In April 2012,
49-year-old Carole Waugh
00:01:46
vanished without a trace. Martin Evans is a British
journalist who followed the case from the start.
00:01:54
He began by building
a picture of Carole's life. MARTIN EVANS: So my name
is Martin Evans,
00:01:59
and I'm the crime editor
of the Daily Telegraph. Carole was 49 years old
when she went missing.
00:02:06
She came from quite
humble origins, mining village in County
Durham in North England.
00:02:12
But she was very well traveled. We knew that in her 20s, she'd
worked for an oil company,
00:02:18
had moved to Tripoli
in Libya, and had traveled extensively through work. She'd also done very well
for herself financially, and
00:02:27
had been able to buy
a flat in Central London in a very desirable location. And by her mid 40s, had
paid the mortgage off there.
00:02:44
Carole was financially
independent. She lived a good lifestyle. She lived in a nice
part of town.
00:02:51
And to all intents
and purposes, her family saw that she was
living a glamorous lifestyle.
00:02:57
NARRATOR: After several
years working abroad, Carole returned
to the UK in 2008,
00:03:02
and had been living alone. MARTIN EVANS: From what I
understand, she did have, I think, two long
term relationships
00:03:08
while she was living overseas. One with an Australian
gentleman. But my understanding
is that by the time
00:03:16
she'd returned to the UK,
those relationships had ended and she was essentially single
while she was living in London.
00:03:25
I think Carole was
a very private person and possibly also quite shy. Perhaps found it difficult
to make friends easily.
00:03:36
She wasn't a particularly
gregarious person. I think there was
a sense, perhaps,
00:03:41
that she was quite lonely. She lived in Central
London, which can be quite
an anonymous place,
00:03:47
a very transient community. Despite the fact she lived
by herself in Central London,
00:03:53
she was still very
close to her family, to her elderly mother who
still lived in County Durham,
00:03:59
and her brother Christopher,
who lived in Cumbria. We know that she would speak
to her mother several times
00:04:05
a week. SENIOR INVESTIGATING OFFICER:
Since she moved back to the UK, she was lonely.
00:04:12
Due to her loneliness, she
started to seek companionship. NARRATOR: In early 2011,
Carole began a new relationship
00:04:21
with a man she met online. MARTIN EVANS: Rakesh
Bhayani, a married man from Wembley in North London.
00:04:30
And they became
friends and eventually embarked on a relationship. He would take her to casinos
and lavish her with gifts.
00:04:41
And you know, she obviously
enjoyed the attention. SENIOR INVESTIGATING
OFFICER: It
00:04:46
was clear that
Carole and Bhayani had been in regular contact. I mean, it was
fair to say that we
00:04:52
could assume that
they were having some kind of relationship. NARRATOR: Bhayani had
a dark past that he
00:04:58
kept hidden from Carole. MARTIN EVANS:
Rakesh Bhayani, he was a fraudster,
a serial criminal,
00:05:06
a liar, and somebody
who had spent his life in and out of prison. He had numerous convictions.
00:05:13
Yeah, a very, very
undesirable character. BRYANNA FOX: I'm
Dr. Bryanna Fox. I'm a psychological
criminologist
00:05:24
at the University
of South Florida and a former FBI Special Agent. It seems from the law
enforcement investigation
00:05:32
into this case that
Bhayani actually was a gambling addict himself. He spent enormous sums
of money on gambling.
00:05:40
MARTIN EVANS:
He'd actually been banned from every
branch of Ladbrokes in the country for trying
to pass counterfeit notes.
00:05:49
BRYANNA FOX: One thing
that often happens is they call it good
money chasing bad,
00:05:53
where people who are
gambling addicts think, I've lost all of this, but you
know what, my next time,
00:05:59
I'm going to get it back on the
next hand, on the next play. And they keep doing
it because they
00:06:04
think they're going
to win the enormous sums that they lost back. But really, the hole just
gets deeper and deeper.
00:06:14
NARRATOR: A few months into
their relationship, Bhayani asked Carole for a loan.
00:06:20
MARTIN EVANS:
Bhayani, obviously, he was a very accomplished
con man and swindler,
00:06:25
and so he didn't
just immediately ask Carole for a huge
amount of money because she may have
understandably been suspicious.
00:06:35
I think his strategy was
more canny than that. He initially asked her
for small loans, which
00:06:41
he then paid back quickly. And by doing that,
won her trust. BRYANNA FOX: It's
obviously important
00:06:51
when you're in a relationship
that their trust is there so the person isn't going
to take advantage of
00:06:56
them financially. But people who are con men
and are successful at it, they look for vulnerable
victims that either are going
00:07:04
to be in denial, not willing
to see what's going on, are more vulnerable to love
betrayal, where they have
00:07:13
this need for friendship
and companionship, and the person that
they're trusting
00:07:17
takes advantage of them. MARTIN EVANS: Bhayani
clearly had a lot of charm. He was clearly a very
persuasive person,
00:07:27
you know, despite the fact
he'd been caught many times and been to prison. There was clearly
something about him
00:07:33
that was very persuasive. BRYANNA FOX: Carole was
looking for a companion, and he filled that gap for her.
00:07:41
Nothing about her that
was wrong or deficient or she wasn't a good
judge of character.
00:07:45
He is that convincing
and good at it. - My name is Fiona
Hoxton Moore, and I'm a forensic accountant
and expert witness.
00:07:55
Fraudsters prey on the
vulnerabilities of the victim. They prey on the loneliness
of the victim.
00:08:05
It very quickly becomes
a relationship, as opposed to just having met the person.
00:08:10
And they know how
to play that person. They encourage
them not to share what's going on with
their friends,
00:08:17
so they encourage
them to be isolated. [MUSIC PLAYING] - So after a period of time,
the loans that Bhayani
00:08:32
was asking for increased. And eventually,
after several months, he asked for a 40,000
pounds loan,
00:08:40
which is obviously
a considerable amount of money. - Of course, he's
a charming guy.
00:08:45
This guy could charm
the birds from the trees. Some people believe what
they want to believe.
00:08:50
They don't want
to believe that they've been conned by somebody close
to them, conned by somebody
00:08:56
that they are close to. - For somebody that's
relatively well off as Carole was, it's not that
uncommon to give a rather
00:09:05
expensive gift
to somebody that they care about as a romantic partner. But 40,000 in cash doesn't
exactly say romance.
00:09:15
So I think law enforcement,
when they see this, they think, why was
this woman giving
00:09:21
her partner with a gambling
addiction such a large sum of money? Was this really a gift, or was
he essentially coercing her?
00:09:29
And it seemed very likely
that the latter was possible. [MUSIC PLAYING] NARRATOR: During her
relationship with Bhayani,
00:09:40
Carole's flat was broken into. SENIOR INVESTIGATING
OFFICER: I think Carole might have
suspected that Bhayani
00:09:47
had been involved
in the burglary where a number of items had been stolen. But even so, she still
maintained the relationship.
00:09:56
This doesn't mean that
Carole was foolish. It just shows us what
an accomplished con
00:10:01
man Bhayani really is. BRYANNA FOX:
Offenders like, who are just brilliantly eloquent,
they are very charming.
00:10:13
I mean, I've been
in rooms with them where I have had conversations
and I'm laughing.
00:10:18
They're so likable. You have to almost remind
yourself of what they've done. You feel sorry
for the victim, thinking, wow,
00:10:25
they never saw this coming. NARRATOR: In 2011,
Bhayani became involved with people in the
London criminal underworld.
00:10:35
SENIOR INVESTIGATING
OFFICER: While he was seeing Carole,
managed to get his hands on some
counterfeit money,
00:10:41
got himself involved in some
gangs, some dangerous people you don't want to mess with.
00:10:46
But this will backfire
because Bhayani soon got arrested and found
himself in prison on remand.
00:10:52
MARTIN EVANS: By that stage,
his relationship with Carole was such that she
supported him.
00:10:57
Rather than turning
away from him, she went to visit
him in prison. We know she wrote a letter
of reference to the judge,
00:11:06
describing him as one
of the good guys. It's clear that
by that stage, he had completely
hoodwinked her and she
00:11:13
was completely in his corner. NARRATOR: While
in prison, Bhayani met 48-year-old Nicholas Kutner.
00:11:22
MARTIN EVANS: They are
essentially two peas in a pod. Another serial
fraudster and con man.
00:11:27
He's got a string
of convictions. But by the age of 19, was
already in prison for fraud
00:11:33
and had racked up almost
100 offenses by the time he meets Bhayani. - I mean, Kutner, he
was deeply unpleasant,
00:11:41
incredibly arrogant. He'd been adopted
as a child and had a privileged
background growing
00:11:47
up with a wealthy family. But during his time, Kutner has
still managed to build up quite
00:11:54
an impressive criminal resume. He'd been arrested
at least 13 times, and had got over 90
convictions to his record.
00:12:06
His favorite cons included
jewelry and fine wines. He would also exploit
girlfriends, stealing from them
00:12:15
and stripping them of assets. NARRATOR: Kutner's previous
frauds included using his
00:12:20
girlfriend's identity to buy
5,000 pounds in fine wine, and using fraudulent
cheques to purchase
00:12:27
jewelry worth 17,500 pounds. SENIOR INVESTIGATING
OFFICER: When Kutner and Bhayani got out of
prison, they stayed in contact.
00:12:38
And at this point,
Bhayani was still in a relationship with
Carole, and he was still
00:12:44
borrowing money from her. MARTIN EVANS: When Bhayani
comes out of prison, the scales haven't fallen from
Carole's eyes by that stage.
00:12:52
She resumes
the relationship with him, and he's trying to do
everything she can to help him.
00:12:57
She genuinely
believes that she can turn him around
and help challenge his gambling addiction.
00:13:04
She lends him 12,000,
pounds, which he says will pay for rehabilitation. But of course, you
know, that money's
00:13:11
going straight to the casino. FIONA HOTSTON MOORE: I
think there is a stigma attached to romance fraud.
00:13:20
I think people are very
embarrassed if they're caught out in this way. They're probably very flattered
to have a relationship.
00:13:28
And therefore, when
the relationship turns out to be fraudulent and not
to be an affectionate one, or
00:13:34
one driven by affection,
they are embarrassed and they are very
reluctant to tell friends
00:13:39
and family and authorities. NARRATOR: On April 16, 2012,
phone records showed Carole and
00:13:46
Bhayani made contact with
another man, whom Bhayani also owed 17,000 pounds. MARTIN EVANS:
The purpose of that
00:13:56
meeting was for Bhayani
to come to arrangements to pay them both back. We think by that
stage, Carole had
00:14:04
become more suspicious
about Bhayani's motives and was now asking to get
her money back from him.
00:14:13
NARRATOR: After
the 16th of April 2012, Carole Waugh disappeared. Three months later,
police were called
00:14:22
to Carole's flat to deal with a
case of suspected rental fraud. SENIOR INVESTIGATING OFFICER:
I got a call from officers
00:14:28
in Central London. The complaints had been made
by two potential tenants. Both these tenants
had paid a deposit.
00:14:35
One of them had
paid 3,900 pounds. The other had paid 7 grand. They only found out
that they'd been
00:14:45
scammed when they
both showed up to move into the same apartment. Of course, they then
called the police.
00:14:54
I went along to Charing
Cross Station to see what was going on. I was given
a briefing, realized
00:15:00
that this wasn't right. This needed a real
investigation. [MUSIC PLAYING] NARRATOR: The would-be
tenants had
00:15:13
told police they paid
deposits to a man who claimed to be Carole's brother. SENIOR INVESTIGATING
OFFICER: Carole
00:15:20
was really great at keeping in
touch with friends and family, but no one had heard from her.
00:15:23
No one had heard
from her for months. I mean, Carole's brother
was even more concerned
00:15:28
when he realized that somebody
had been impersonating him to rent out Carole's flat.
00:15:34
At that point, that
was a huge red flag. NARRATOR: The disappearance of
Carole Waugh shocked her family
00:15:41
and friends, who she
had always maintained regular contact with. SENIOR INVESTIGATING
OFFICER: Carole's brother
00:15:47
told us that Carole always
maintained contact with her mom and with the rest
of the family.
00:15:52
And she had a 50th
birthday coming up, and there had been
previous plans for her to go up north to see
the family as a celebration.
00:15:59
But no one, I mean no
one, had heard from her. NARRATOR: After speaking
with Carole's brother,
00:16:06
police began an investigation
into Carole's disappearance. - We started looking
into Carole's phone data.
00:16:14
And there were
inconsistencies in how she would usually use her phone. There was just texts that
just didn't seem right.
00:16:22
No one had seen her for months. There was definitely
something wrong. I suspected that she was dead.
00:16:34
FIONA HOTSTON MOORE: If I were
looking at bank statements and there was a concern that
the person had been killed
00:16:41
as opposed to gone
missing, then I would be looking at the nature
of the expenditure.
00:16:46
Is this the sort of expenditure
that that person typically would be incurring,
or that we might
00:16:51
think they might be
incurring in order to stay disappeared, stay missing? Or is this sort of expenditure
that's not typical for them,
00:17:00
and therefore suggest
there's more behind it? NARRATOR: As well as looking
into her phone and
00:17:06
financial records, police
began investigating Carole's last known movements. SENIOR INVESTIGATING OFFICER:
We paid particular attention
00:17:13
to the people that she'd
been in contact with just before her disappearance. NARRATOR: Police
identified Rakesh Bhayani
00:17:21
as a person who
Carole had regularly interacted with in the months
before she vanished.
00:17:27
They brought him
in for questioning. SENIOR INVESTIGATING OFFICER:
In any investigation,
00:17:32
the first interview is crucial. We just wanted to get
Bhayani to talk. I sent two officers to go
and interview Bhayani.
00:17:39
I told them, just speak
with him, let him talk. Let him commit to his
version of events.
00:17:45
And then from there, we will
look into some inconsistencies. MARTIN EVANS: So he's
brought in for questioning.
00:17:51
And initially, like
all good con men, claims to be
completely clueless. They have no idea what
they're talking about.
00:18:00
But there's obviously
evidence there that points to his involvement. SENIOR INVESTIGATING
OFFICER: He then
00:18:07
started to spin this
amazing tale, how him and Carole, they'd
planned this together.
00:18:14
They planned her
disappearance to South Africa, and she was going
to cut off all contact
00:18:19
with her friends and family. So he said the plan was, was
that she was to disappear.
00:18:26
He was to sell her assets,
generate as much income from her assets
and properties as possible,
00:18:32
and then 18 months later, she
would just re-emerge, saying, I've been robbed. - One thing that
law enforcement
00:18:44
wants to look into immediately
if they see somebody who has gone missing but is
very financially well off,
00:18:52
of course is, are
they really missing? Did they just run away
with a circus, so to speak?
00:18:57
Or is there foul play? - He then comes up with this
rather extravagant story. And it was all part
of an insurance scam.
00:19:06
And I would claim the money
and then we'd split it. I mean, he is
a plausible character.
00:19:11
And initially, some
of the detectives seem to be taken
in by his cover story. - The two officers
came in to debrief me.
00:19:22
They told me, boss, boss,
you've got it all wrong. She was actually involved. I said, guys, I
hope you haven't
00:19:30
lent him any money because you
guys have been conned. NARRATOR: After
questioning Bhayani
00:19:41
about Carole's
disappearance, police decided to dig deeper into his story. SENIOR INVESTIGATING
OFFICER: When
00:19:47
we interviewed Bhayani
for a second time, we were able
to probe his story. Where had she traveled from?
00:19:53
Where had she gon? Had she gone by airline? Had she traveled
under her own name?
00:19:58
Did she pay for things? Did she pay for this herself? Did you take her
to the airport?
00:20:03
We knew that if he answered
any of these questions, we would find that
digital footprint.
00:20:08
We would find out which
airline where she'd been. There would be
evidence of that.
00:20:13
His story just
started to fall apart. And at that point, we knew that
this whole thing was nonsense.
00:20:22
NARRATOR: Now more
suspicious of Bhayani, police continue their investigation
into their suspect's past.
00:20:29
MARTIN EVANS: Bhayani was
a very accomplished con man. He had fake identities. When he met Carole,
he tried to pass
00:20:37
himself off
as a as a heart surgeon at a top London hospital. I'm not sure anybody really
knew who Bhayani actually
00:20:45
was, because he had so many
different sort of facets to his character,
different identities.
00:20:52
NARRATOR: Using
phone records, police were able to place
Carole, Bhayani, and Nicholas Kutner together on
the evening Carole disappeared.
00:21:01
- Bhayani and Carole
and Bhayani's accomplice were in the area of her
flat on the 16th of April.
00:21:13
SENIOR INVESTIGATING OFFICER:
The 16th of April was the first time that
Kutner, Bhayani,
00:21:17
and Carole all came together. It was somewhere in the Harrow
area, which isn't too
00:21:22
far away from Carole's flat. We know from the phone
records that they traveled by car together
back to Carole's flat.
00:21:31
We suspect that something
happened that night in the flat because Carole was
never seen again.
00:21:41
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC] I mean, it became obvious
that everything had changed after the 16th of April.
00:21:51
I mean, her phone
records showed that the phone was being used
at different times than normal.
00:21:55
Being turned on at different
times in the morning, going off at different times
at night, the messages.
00:22:01
It just didn't add up. There was something
definitely, definitely wrong. Police began focusing
on Carole's bank
00:22:10
account and spending activities
after the 16th of April. FIONA HOTSTON MOORE:
As a forensic accountant,
00:22:17
we would be looking at things
like bank loan applications and the transfers, and trying
to look and see
00:22:25
whether actually the people
making those applications can make them. So in this case, it would
be straightforward and
00:22:32
that any money that was
spent after-- once you knew the date of Carole's death,
once that had been proven,
00:22:37
any money spent
would be fraudulent because her monies
and her assets should have been
frozen at that stage.
00:22:44
- So in the weeks after
Carole's last known sighting, thousands of pounds
are withdrawn
00:22:51
from her bank accounts
from ATMs across London. Some of these transactions
are caught on CCTV.
00:23:01
But that's very suspicious
activity because as we knoe, Carole was very
frugal, and that sort
00:23:06
of activity withdrawing
large amounts of money just was not something
that she was--
00:23:12
she would usually do SENIOR INVESTIGATING
OFFICER: Carole's finances, this all seemed to change
after the 16th of April.
00:23:20
Money was drained from
her accounts, taken out on ATMs on her cash card. There was even
loans being taken
00:23:27
out in her name,
when Carole was really careful with her money. This was really, really
out of character.
00:23:33
Even an application was
made to refinance her flat. This just didn't add up. NARRATOR: Bhayani maintained
that he knew nothing
00:23:43
about Carole's whereabouts. And during
their investigation, police discovered several potential
sightings of Carole.
00:23:53
MARTIN EVANS: There are
reports of women looking like Carole purchasing
expensive items,
00:23:59
which is not
something that Carole would normally have done. She was a frugal woman.
00:24:03
Not somebody who would
spend large amounts of money on luxury goods like handbags.
00:24:09
Very, very suspicious activity. SENIOR INVESTIGATING OFFICER:
So we saw from the bank records
00:24:13
that Carole's card had
been used in many luxury stores in London. You know, designer
handbags and the like.
00:24:20
So we approached the stores,
and at that time, CCTV was taped. It was generally
overwritten every 24 hours.
00:24:29
We had statements
from staff who said that, yes, a female
of Carole's description
00:24:34
had made these purchases. But we still didn't have
a definitive sighting of Carole
00:24:41
at that time. NARRATOR: Rakesh
Bhayani and Nicholas Kutner's behavior
after April 16th and
00:24:48
17th also raised suspicions. MARTIN EVANS: On the day
after Carole's disappearance,
00:24:53
we know that Bhayani went
into a Bond Street jewelers, where he attempted
to buy a diamond ring
00:25:00
for 40,000 pounds in cash. SENIOR INVESTIGATING
OFFICER: The day after the 16th
of April, we know that
00:25:07
Kutner went to Hatton Garden. A lot of Carole's
jewelry had gone missing, and our investigation then
showed us that that jewelry had
00:25:15
been sold at Hatton Garden. NARRATOR: Faced
with this evidence, police decided
to charge Bhayani and
00:25:21
Kutner with fraud
offenses in relation to Carole's disappearance. SENIOR INVESTIGATING
OFFICER: Bhayani
00:25:26
was arrested under charges
of abduction and fraud. He was, at this time, insisting
that Carole was alive.
00:25:34
Kutner, he was also arrested
on return from holiday. We sent two officers
to the airport,
00:25:39
and that's where
they arrested him. He was interviewed,
but during interview, he didn't say a single word.
00:25:54
NARRATOR: On August
2, 2012, police searched a lock up
garage in South London, recently rented by Bhayani.
00:26:03
MARTIN EVANS: In early
August, three months after the last sighting
of Carole, her body
00:26:08
is found in a Volkswagen
Golf, which is in a lock up in New Malden
in South London.
00:26:18
Sadly, the body was badly
decomposed by that stage, and that meant it
was very difficult
00:26:24
for forensic pathologists
to establish a cause of death. SENIOR INVESTIGATING
OFFICER: The problem is,
00:26:32
is that when we
found Carole's body, she was incredibly decomposed. Initial investigation,
we struggled
00:26:40
to find a cause of death. But we did find a single
stab wound to the neck. I mean, there could have been
other wounds to Carole's body,
00:26:50
but on initial
investigation, we just couldn't determine that. You've got to remember
that Carole
00:26:56
had been dead for four months
by the time we found her. NARRATOR: Once Carole's
body was discovered,
00:27:02
Bhayani changed his story. - Bhayani now tells
us that everything he's told us before
were complete lies,
00:27:10
and that what
actually happened is that he and Kutner
entered Carole's flat and found her already dead.
00:27:17
They just didn't
know what to do. So they decided
to get rid of the body and continue
committing their fraud.
00:27:23
It was all just
complete rubbish. BRYANNA FOX: Even
after Carole's death, Bhayani didn't stop.
00:27:31
He actually was trying to rent
out her flat, used her jewelry, brought it to pawnbrokers.
00:27:37
He was trying to get
as much money as he could. It almost seemed like he wasn't
really even trying to hide
00:27:42
what he had done that much. SENIOR INVESTIGATING
OFFICER: I mean, I started to suspect
that had introduced
00:27:48
Kutner as a way to expand
on the fraud against Carole. And I suspect that Carole smelt
a rat, just because of the way
00:27:57
that Kutner presented himself. I believe that she
probably suspected that they were conning her.
00:28:04
And she confronted them. She maybe even threatened
to go to the police. But I believe that's
why she was killed.
00:28:10
All we have to do
now was prove it. NARRATOR: In August
2012, Rakesh Bhayani and Nicholas Kutner are
charged with the murder
00:28:22
of Carole Waugh. Police began examining
their behavior in the months after Carole's death.
00:28:29
- After Carole
disappeared, they began stripping her assets
with cash withdrawals
00:28:34
from cash machines,
selling her assets. They eventually applied
for loans in Carole's name.
00:28:39
They even tried
to remortgage the property, and eventually, they
must have settled
00:28:43
on renting out the flat. It was at that point that
it came to our attention. MARTIN EVANS: After
Carole's death,
00:28:52
Bhayani and his accomplice
go straight to the casino. Spent thousands
at the roulette table.
00:28:58
They check
into a five-star hotel. They go to ATM machines
and withdraw cash. They start selling her jewelry.
00:29:08
They basically go
on a lavish spending spree. They're certainly behaving
like people who've just
00:29:14
come in to a big windfall. SENIOR INVESTIGATING
OFFICER: They were living in posh hotels,
living the high life.
00:29:21
They were spending money like
it was going out of fashion. Staff remembered how
obnoxious Kutner was.
00:29:27
Remember them
screaming at staff. Bhayani was also seen
to lose over 20 grand in a casino in one
single night.
00:29:36
MARTIN EVANS: Bhayani is then
hell bent on getting everything he can out of her estate.
00:29:41
So first of all,
he sells anything that he can get his hands on. But it goes further than that.
00:29:47
He realizes that
the biggest asset she has is this flat
in Marylebone, which is worth hundreds of thousands
of pounds and is mortgage free.
00:29:55
So realizing that, he
applies for a 200,000-poind bridging loan, which he gets. So he's now got 200,000 pounds
plus a load of stuff that
00:30:08
he's pinched from her flat. [SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC] NARRATOR: In October
2013, Rakesh Bhayani and
00:30:21
Nicholas Kutner were
brought to trial for the murder of Carole Waugh
and fraud against her estate.
00:30:29
MARTIN EVANS: The trial took
place at the Old Bailey, and Bhayani and his
accomplice, who
00:30:35
had admitted fraud charges
but both denied murder, went on trial, before Mr.
Justice Wilkie came out
00:30:44
at trial when we
discovered that he'd recruited a number
of women to pose as Carole
00:30:51
to carry out his scams. - Bhayani later
admitted to paying several women to impersonate
Carole when making
00:31:00
these types of purchases. These were the women that had
been identified in the CCTV
00:31:05
and within the luxury stores. Some of these women, also
now involved in the fraud,
00:31:10
were later prosecuted
for those offenses. - But I think that
really just does go to show the sort
of level of sophistication
00:31:17
he was willing to embark on
to get hold of Carole's money. BRYANNA FOX: It seems like
had enough of forethought
00:31:27
to know if he
walked into a store and said he was buying
women's handbags, which are very expensive,
that may raise some red flags.
00:31:36
Or if the authorities ever
go to that store and said, you know, did Carole actually
use her credit card here?
00:31:43
They could pretty
well remember or show on CCTV that it was a man. So he was trying
to cover this up and
00:31:50
cover his tracks
by having people enlisted to serve as Carole
impersonators to go purchase
00:31:56
these expensive goods. NARRATOR: One of the most
damning pieces of evidence was the location where
Carole's body was found.
00:32:05
SENIOR INVESTIGATING
OFFICER: The thing that absolutely nailed
this was the use of the car and the garage
in New Malden,
00:32:12
where the body was found. Both the car
and the garage were both linked to Rakesh Bhayani.
00:32:19
- Police find this
Volkswagen Golf in a lock up in New Malden. And they traced
the vehicle to a man
00:32:28
who says he had sold
two cars on the same day to a man called Rakesh Bhayani. Basically, Bhayani had
bought a car from this guy.
00:32:41
But on driving
it away, had been stopped by the police
on suspicion of driving without insurance,
and the car was confiscated.
00:32:50
So he'd then gone
back to the same chap and had bought a second car,
which was the Volkswagen Golf,
00:32:57
and had used that
to store the body. Initially, he parks that
car with Carole's body
00:33:07
in the boot behind John Lewis
in Oxford Street, which is not too far from Carole's flat.
00:33:15
He goes on his lavish
spending spree, but then clearly in May,
starts to worry that the body
00:33:22
might be discovered. So he and his accomplice
then go and collect the car, and they drive
to the Cotswolds.
00:33:31
And we think the idea was
perhaps to find a secluded area to dump the body. SENIOR INVESTIGATING OFFICER:
We know that these two
00:33:39
guys went to the Cotswolds. We know it through phone
records, ANPR records. This is two guys who
never leave London.
00:33:47
We believe that this
was a first attempt to dispose of Carole's body. MARTIN EVANS:
But actually, it seems
00:33:54
that when they get
to the Cotswolds, they discover that it's
actually quite a popular place
00:33:58
and there's lots
of people around. And so they seem
to abandon that idea and then drive back to London,
eventually hiring the lock up
00:34:08
in New Malden, where they store
the car until Carole's body is discovered in August.
00:34:17
NARRATOR: There was
also damning evidence from an innocent
associate of Bhayani who
00:34:22
testified that had
paid him to book the lock up garage
in New Malden, where Carole's body
was discovered.
00:34:28
SENIOR INVESTIGATING
OFFICER: So Bhayani tells him that he
needs to rent a garage
00:34:33
to store a classic car, which
of course, he didn't own. This evidence,
at the very least,
00:34:38
proves that they were
concealing the body. This alone made them
guilty of perverting
00:34:43
the course of justice. MARTIN EVANS: I
think, for me, one of the most shocking
aspects of this case
00:34:51
was the behavior of Bhayani
after the murder. He didn't seem to be
traumatized by what he'd done.
00:34:59
He wasn't a seasoned killer. He hasn't-- he
hasn't killed before, but he didn't seem remotely
bothered by the fact
00:35:05
that he took somebody's life. He-- he just
carried on spending. FIONA HOTSTON MOORE: In
Carole's case, it was extreme,
00:35:13
so the fraudster
tried various methods in order to get at the money. So he tried
to refinance the flat.
00:35:20
He tried to let the flat out. He emptied her bank account. So there-- he was
very desperate.
00:35:26
He was trying to get as much
out as quickly as he could, presumably before
it was actually
00:35:31
discovered that Carole
was dead and her assets would then be frozen. SENIOR INVESTIGATING
OFFICER: So there
00:35:38
were two distinct
aspects to this fraud. There was the prior to death
fraud, which we know about.
00:35:45
But then once she was
killed, they just continued. The body was just
an inconvenience
00:35:50
that they needed to get
rid of so they could continue defrauding Carole. And even after she was
dead, in their eyes,
00:35:57
she was ripe for exploitation. They had no remorse. MARTIN EVANS: We know that
before Carole's death,
00:36:05
Bhayani was only really
interested in one thing, and that was getting
money from her.
00:36:12
But then, really, really
cynically after the murder, he carries on with that. The only thing he's
interested in is getting cash.
00:36:24
And it really talks to what
he thought of Carole. She was only ever
a cash cow to him.
00:36:32
He didn't seem concerned
about what he'd done. He didn't seem to be
remorseful for what he'd done.
00:36:40
BRYANNA FOX: While
he is absolutely unsympathetic
towards his victim, I would say that for Bhayani
to just walk away
00:36:47
when he has access to such
a large sum of money, in his mind, that would
be almost wasteful.
00:36:52
He already committed murder. He needed the money. So he thought, I'm just
going to take full advantage.
00:36:58
That is despite the fact
that, increasingly, his chances of being caught
go up every single time
00:37:04
he accesses her money. But the temptation to take
that money was just too great.
00:37:10
So he felt in his mind
like he had to do it. MARTIN EVANS: He
didn't even seem that
00:37:14
worried about being caught. He treated her body
with no respect at all. And of course, just goes
on this kind of roller
00:37:23
coaster spending spree. And he would have carried
on until every penny that he could have got
out of her had gone.
00:37:31
And I think, yeah, that really
talks to the sort of character that he was, utterly
ruthless, utterly selfish,
00:37:38
caring only
for himself and money. [MUSIC PLAYING] NARRATOR: During his
trial for murder,
00:37:53
Bhayani continued
to insist he was innocent. MARTIN EVANS:
Bhayani's defense, as you could imagine
for an accomplished con man,
00:38:04
was to immediately
blame his accomplice. What's known
as a cutthroat defense. He claimed that he had
nothing to do with it,
00:38:13
and it was all his
accomplices doing, and he was entirely innocent,
apart from the fraud
00:38:17
charges, which he'd admitted. NARRATOR: Both Bhayani
and Kutner had a long history
00:38:23
of fraud convictions. MARTIN EVANS: There
was nobody who was safe from his
fraudulent activity.
00:38:30
He tried to remortgage
his own parents' home, his own brother's home. He essentially-- his
life was about money
00:38:41
and stealing and fraud. - You're talking about a guy
who ripped off his own family.
00:38:49
He set up a fake a Gamblers
Anonymous hostel. He filled it with actors
posing as gambling
00:38:57
addicts and counselors. Then he invited his
wife over to prove that he was attending
Gamblers Anonymous.
00:39:04
This guy has just got no
conscience whatsoever. NARRATOR: While Bhayani
admitted to defrauding Carole,
00:39:15
he continued to deny
murdering her, despite the mounting
evidence against him. SENIOR INVESTIGATING
OFFICER: To see him
00:39:22
in the witness box telling lie
after lie, what a performance. He was convinced that he
was going to turn that jury.
00:39:31
I mean, I've never seen
a performance like it in the witness box, and I've
seen a lot of murder trials.
00:39:36
The sheer arrogance,
it was just phenomenal. MARTIN EVANS: I think all
murder cases are extremely
00:39:43
traumatic, understandably,
for families of the victims and the loved ones
of the victims.
00:39:49
They sit there and they
hear the awful details of the last hours
of their loved ones.
00:39:56
But with this case, it
also goes beyond that, because Bhayani's
activities after the murder
00:40:03
are really quite
shocking and upsetting. His behavior was so callous. It showed that he had no
feelings whatsoever for Carole.
00:40:13
He had no remorse whatsoever. He didn't accept
what he had done. And I think that must have
been an additional agony
00:40:22
for her family
to have to listen to. [MUSIC PLAYING] NARRATOR: In November
2013, Rakesh Bhayani and
00:40:34
Nicholas Kutner, who had
both faced murder charges, finally discovered their fates.
00:40:41
MARTIN EVANS: The jury returned
a guilty verdict of murder for Bhayani. His accomplice was
acquitted of murder,
00:40:52
but was convicted of perverting
the course of justice in helping to dispose the body.
00:40:58
And the trial judge,
Mr. Justice Wilkie, said it was an act
of great callousness
00:41:04
borne born out of greed. But he did concede
that there was no premeditation, that this
was a spur of the moment action
00:41:13
by Bhayani. Bhayani was sentenced
to a mandatory life sentence, with a recommendation that he
served a minimum of 27 years
00:41:23
before he becomes
eligible for release. [MUSIC PLAYING] NARRATOR: The total amount
of the fraud committed
00:41:35
against Carole Waugh was
estimated to be over a quarter of a million pounds. FIONA HOTSTON MOORE:
Bhayani spent a lot of money
00:41:43
very quickly after
he killed Carole. That suggests that he wasn't
emotionally attached to Carole.
00:41:51
It suggests, perhaps,
that he was very greedy, that he was very desperate. Perhaps he knew that it
was only a matter of time
00:41:58
before he would be discovered. BRYANNA FOX: Continued
crime after murder really impacts a judge's
view of this person.
00:42:07
I mean, for one, it shows
that the murder didn't just end their criminal behavior.
00:42:12
That this was heat
of the moment, something that went too far. There was an argument.
00:42:17
They did something almost
unintentionally at that point that goes out the window.
00:42:23
And it shows that they were
willing to cover up the murder, didn't call the police, commit
more crimes afterwards, and
00:42:30
show no remorse whatsoever. That really colors how bad this
offender is in the judge and
00:42:35
community's minds. SENIOR INVESTIGATING OFFICER:
When they were convicted, I just thought, job well done.
00:42:41
We called it the Dirty
Rotten Scoundrel Case, like the Steve Martin film. But this was no comedy.
00:42:48
An innocent woman had died. NARRATOR: Despite
the guilty verdicts, details of exactly how Carole
died that night remain unclear.
00:43:02
MARTIN EVANS: So we think back
at Carole's flat in Marylebone. She's there with Bhayani
and his accomplice,
00:43:09
and she confronts him about
his finances and the fact that she's lent
him all this money.
00:43:17
She's clearly, by this stage,
beginning to realize what he is and who he is. I think that perhaps
she confronts him
00:43:26
and there's an argument about
her demanding the money back. And of course,
Bhayani probably can't
00:43:33
pay her back because his
life is a tissue of lies, essentially. SENIOR INVESTIGATING
OFFICER: I don't believe
00:43:41
that the murder was planned. I think Carole smelt a rat. I think Carole
threatened-- she threatened
00:43:49
to go to the authorities. Bhayani desperately
needed money to feed his growing
gambling addiction
00:43:55
and to pay back the gangsters
for the counterfeit cash. BRYANNA FOX: I think
throughout this case,
00:44:02
there's a lack
of planning that's evident in Bhayani's behaviors. It seems that
Bhayani and Carole
00:44:12
had gotten
into a heated argument, actually, the same day
that she had been killed.
00:44:18
Certainly, it may not have been
his ultimate goal to kill her. But even though he was
engaging in these fraud and
00:44:27
financial schemes
to benefit himself, he was absolutely willing
to engage in this violent crime
00:44:32
to cover it up. SENIOR INVESTIGATING
OFFICER: Carole obviously didn't know how bad he was.
00:44:38
When you're financially
and emotionally involved with
someone, you don't want to admit that you've
made a big mistake.
00:44:44
But of course, you still
want to try and find a way to recoup your losses. She was owed a lot of money.
00:44:50
And she wanted that money back. She couldn't afford
to take the losses of not having that money.
00:44:58
BRYANNA FOX: She
wanted to believe that she had this partner. She was getting older in age.
00:45:04
She really didn't have
a lot of people around her. So somebody that was going
to take care of her, that
00:45:09
wanted to spend
time with her, I think she really
wanted to believe that he liked her that much,
and he was going to do that.
00:45:15
And he was very
good at hiding it. He was stealing
things from her. He had answers to where
the money went.
00:45:21
It wasn't entirely
apparent how much he was taking advantage of her. And if she did have any
thoughts of him doing this,
00:45:28
I think she tried to put
it out of her mind. MARTIN EVANS: Carole Waugh
was a very trusting person.
00:45:34
I think, essentially, her
biggest failing was the fact that she was so trusting.
00:45:41
When she met Bhayani she
believed she'd met, as she said, one of the good guys. Tragically for her, it
was the complete opposite.
00:45:50
She wanted to believe in him. I think she wanted to believe
in people and the good
00:45:55
in people. SENIOR INVESTIGATING
OFFICER: These men had absolutely no conscience
that Carole had been killed.
00:46:02
All they cared
about is how they could keep this fraud going and
how much money they could get.
00:46:09
MARTIN EVANS:
Unfortunately for her, she met a man who was greedy,
callous, and essentially
00:46:16
cared nothing but himself. [MUSIC PLAYING] [THEME MUSIC]