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Cheque Mate

19 Apr 2006

“I WAS looking through my chequebook and I noticed some were missing,” says Jade Goody. “Where the cheques are numbered like 003, 004, I noticed a jump to 006 then 0016.”
Jade looks a million lira
Jade is clearly not as dumb as she makes out.

The girl who asked “It’s Mona Lisa Who’s Symmetrical, Innit?" and who answered “Strawberries and spuds” when challenged to name two vegetables in the garden, realises that six rarely if ever comes right after 4.

Something is missing. And Jade’s bank have been helping her discover what this something is. The bank’s Fraud Investigation team has been studying Jade’s account for irregularities.

Has Jade cashed a cheque for £10,000? She cannot remember. What about one for £42,000? Think carefully, Jade. Celebrities often lead hedonistic lifestyles and £42,000 represents the price of a quiet night out with some Cristal champagne and kebabs.

But no, Jade is at a loss. The bank workers continue to look. Jade examines the chequebook some more and notes that some cheques have been “razored out”. And like a candle being lit in a barn, Jade understands. She has, as it is alleged, been robbed of as much as £500,000.

And the chief suspect is a man who, as Jade tells the Sun, “has spent a lot of time in my house”. The matter is now with the police, and having made a statement to the cops in Harlow, Essex, Jade is keen to talk.

“It’s a lot of money,” says she to the Sun. And it is. “I have been the victim of a theft from someone who I thought was quite close... It’s all the more upsetting when you think it’s somebody you can trust.”

Indeed it is. But perhaps yet more newsworthy than the theft is the story that Jade did not notice the money leaving her account.

Has the Big Brother star now accumulated so much cash that half a million quid can be filched from her stash and not adversely affect her standard of living?

The Sun thinks it is time to look at Jade’s assets – two fitness videos, a property portfolio worth £2million, columns in magazines, TV appearances and a beauty parlour in Hertford called Ugly’s.

The 25-year-old has made some “tictactical” investments. Which is all the more remarkable given that she has never had to get her kebabs out. All five of them...


http://www.anorak.co.uk//news.cfm?id=169468

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Jade is cheque scam victim
http://www.itn.co.uk/news/index_1776725.html
11.41PM, Tue Apr 18 2006

Big Brother celebrity Jade Goody has told of her horror at becoming the victim of a chequebook fraud costing her up to £500,000.

The reality television star reported the theft to police in Harlow, Essex, after discovering a number of cheques had been taken from her chequebook.

Goody told reporters she was missing a substantial sum of money from her Abbey National account and believed a friend was responsible for the thefts.

"A number of cheques have gone missing, so it could be anything up to half a million. I have been a victim of theft from someone who I thought was quite close.

"It's upsetting, I don't need this, I'm so busy and I just don't want the aggro," she said.

"It's all the more upsetting when you think it's somebody you can trust. It's horrible," she added.

Goody, who appeared in series three of the Channel 4 show Big Brother, said she had noticed gaps in the sequence of cheque numbers in her chequebook.

On closer inspection, she spotted that cheques had been razored out, she said.

The mother of two, who lives in Ongar, Essex, said she believed the cheques were stolen from her house.

A spokeswoman for Abbey National said the matter had been passed on to the police.

She added: "Fraud is something we take seriously across the whole business and we would investigate each case on an individual basis."

A spokesman for Essex Police told reporters: "I can confirm we had a report of a theft made this afternoon."

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The Great Jade Robbery
JADE Goody told of her devastation last night over a chequebook sting that could cost her around £½million.

The wacky Big Brother contestant, 25, has told police that a former family friend plundered her personal accounts for six months before she noticed the loss.

Speaking as she left a police station yesterday, she said: “It’s a lot of money. A number of cheques have gone missing, so it could be anything up to half a million. I have been a victim of theft from someone who I thought was quite close. It’s so upsetting. I don’t need this. I’m so busy and I just don’t want the aggro. It’s all the more upsetting when you think it’s somebody you can trust. It’s horrible.”

Mother-of-two Jade suspects the thefts took place at her £300,000 house in Ongar, Essex.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006180184,00.html

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Jade in bank raid
We always knew Jade Goody wasn’t exactly University Challenge material, but we still find it hard to believe she lost nearly £500,000 – without even noticing! The Big Brother star has told police that a former family friend stole 42 cheques from her chequebook – but it was six months before she realised they were missing.

After making a statement to fraud squad detectives, Jade said: “I have been a victim of theft from someone who I thought was quite close. It’s so upsetting. I don’t need this. I’m so busy and I don’t want the aggro. It’s all the more upsetting when you think it’s somebody you can trust.”

The mum-of-two suspects the thefts took place at her Essex home. She first noticed money missing from her account last week, when a cheque she couldn’t remember writing was cashed for £10,000. Then she examined her statements more closely and spotted a cheque had been written the week previously for a whopping £42,000.

“They have been razored out of my chequebook,” says Jade. “He has spent a lot of time in my house. He must have been writing them out to himself – I’m not sure. I don’t want to go into too much detail. There’s an investigation going on and I don’t want anything to jeopardise it.”

Police are now gathering evidence in co-operation with Jade’s bank to nab the fraudster. We do feel sorry for the poor love, but the whole incident does rather beg the question – does Jade Goody now have more money than sense? You decide…

Wanadoo