A “fantasist” who purported to be an Australian soap star and catfished several women by enticing them to send her private photos and “ruthlessly” pursuing them has lost her appeal.
Lydia Abdelmalek, 32, appeared in the County Court of Victoria today when her legal challenge to her conviction for acts described as “planned and brutal” by a magistrate was dismissed.
Prosecutors told the appeal court that Abdelmalek, of Lalor in Melbourne’s northern suburbs, was a liar who had “mercilessly” pursued her victims with a “soap opera” cast of characters that included Home and Away star Lincoln Lewis.
The verdict comes after Abdelmalek was convicted guilty of six stalking crimes more than three years ago.
Judge Claire Quin stated Abdelmalek’s testimony was “inconceivable” and “farcical,” and she dismissed it.
“Her account does not make sense,” the judge said.
“I am satisfied the appellant was responsible for the stalking behavior,” she said.
“I find therefore each of the charges proven.”
In another twist, Judge Quin told the court that “incriminating” information was found on a phone confiscated at Abdelmalek’s house during the appeal in connection with another case.
There was a variety of data on the phone that “confirmed the accounts offered by victims,” according to the court, including hundreds of texts and pictures to the women she pursued, intimate photos, and Lincoln Lewis’ real voicemail.
“Much of this material was not available at the time of the Magistrates’ hearing,” Judge Quinn said.
“The enormity of this behavior could not be over-exaggerated.”
In a crowded courtroom, family members and friends wept as the verdict was read.
Abdelmalek did not react.
She has filed an appeal against her sentence, but her bail has been canceled, and she will be detained.
As she was led away by guards, one of Abdelmalek’s victims waved.
The victim of a catfish thanks the cops.
Jess, a victim of Abdelmalek, gave tribute to detectives and prosecutors today.
“I can’t thank them enough,” she said.
“The Victorian police have just been amazing and supportive, and the whole prosecution team have worked tirelessly to get us this result.
“Now it’s off the streets and hopefully off the keyboard and can’t ruin anyone else’s lives.”
She said she was taking things day by day.
“My life’s been on hold for nearly 10 years so I’m not quite sure how that’s going to look, but it’s looking a lot better at the moment.”
Abdelmalek claims that the evidence against her is false.
The decision follows a drawn-out and at times weird hearing that lasted nearly a year and included the submission of a kilogramme of chocolate as evidence.
Abdelmalek took the extraordinary step of taking the stand and giving testimony in her own appeal in the final days of her case, a move that is generally shunned because it exposes the accused to harsh cross-examination.
Prosecutors also played recordings of what looked to be her own voice taken by victims 32 years ago.
“That’s your voice, isn’t it,” prosecutor Angela Moran said.
“No, it’s not my voice,” Abdelmalek said.
“But it sounds identical to you, doesn’t it?” the prosecutor said.
“Not from my opinion,” Abdelmalek said.
Throughout the appeal, Abdelmalek maintained her innocence and claimed she was the victim of a person impersonating Lincoln Lewis who used her phone to “extensively and mercilessly” pursue the women.
But Ms Moran said that was a “pack of lies”.
“I’m telling you that I lived it and that’s exactly what happened,” Abdelmalek said.
“Because you always tell the truth,” Ms Moran said.
“Oh, not always. I don’t think everybody tells the truth a hundred per cent,” Abdelmalek said.
A flight attendant who was emotionally susceptible was targeted.
Emma, an international flight attendant, has been the target of Abdelmalek’s terror campaign for more than a decade.
Emma received a Facebook invitation from someone she thought was Lincoln Lewis, an actor well known for his appearances on Home and Away and Tomorrow When The War Began, in 2011, a few weeks after a horrible break-up.
Emma and the person behind the profile hit it off right away, and things quickly escalated into a love relationship, with the two exchanging intimate images and videos.
However, the boundaries of their ostensible relationship began to gnaw at Emma, and every time they planned to meet, there was some excuse.
It eventually piqued her interest enough for her to contact an old friend, who connected her with the actor.
Last September, the actual Lincoln Lewis testified in court and recalled the exchange.
“It’s going to sound really weird saying it like this, have you and I been dating for the last couple of months,” Lewis recalled Emma asking him.
“That really threw me, and I said, ‘What? No, what are you talking about?’ And that’s when Emma started to sound really stressed and panicked … and then started saying, ‘No, tell me you’re lying, please tell me you’re lying, Linc,'” Lewis told the court.
“This person has photos and videos of me … I thought I was dating you,” he recalled Emma telling him.
Abdelmalek, who was photoshopping pictures of Lewis and obtaining his voicemail, was the genuine person behind the phoney profile.
During the appeal, Lewis pulled the collar of his shirt open to show that a photo was a forgery.
“I have two really apparent moles like one’s here on my collarbone,” he said, gesturing.
“If it’s not prominent on that photo, then to me, it looks doctored.”
Prosecutors claim the defendants created many false identities.
Emma eventually approached the impostor, who claimed to be a man named Michael Jason Smith and said that he and his buddies had created a phoney Facebook page for the actor and were posing as him.
“He said that things got out of hand and he became interested in me,” Emma said.
The two started communicating and soon created a new love relationship, which was likewise conducted entirely online.
Michael Jason Smith then revealed that his real name was Danny Jason MacGreene and that he had been using a false identity to avoid an ex.
Prosecutors claim that none of the individuals were real and that it was entirely Abdelmalek’s work, which included fabricating a phoney kidnapping of Michael Jason Smith.
“When she realised that you were not actually Lincoln Lewis, you created another deception to persuade her that you were Michael Smith, what do you say to that,” said the prosecutor, Ms Moran.
Under cross-examination, Abdelmalek responded, “No.”
“You brutally abused the fact that you had such intimate films and photographs when she tried to break away from you,” the prosecution added.
“No,” she stated emphatically.
Friends and family members have documented a never-ending barrage of abuse.
The stalker effort against Emma, according to witnesses, was unrelenting and brutal.
Emma’s father said in court that she received up to 60 texts per day, even while she was working overseas.
“There was no respite,” he explained.
“She used to stay with us the day before she went away, and one morning I heard a ruckus in the bathroom and got up to investigate.”
“I discovered [her] with my wife, who was crying and looked at her phone.” She was all suited up and ready to go to work, but she was trembling and sobbing like a leaf.”
Emma committed suicide in 2018.
While posing as Lincoln Lewis, Abdelmalek also sought another woman, Jess.
Abdelmalek, like her other victim, developed an intimate romantic bond with Jess, even going so far as to assist her victim’s kid with schoolwork.
She also persuaded Jess to send intimate images, but she pulled out every time they were supposed to meet, much like Emma.
When Jess got suspicious, she used a common friend to contact the actual Lincoln Lewis, who informed her that she had been duped.
She later persuaded Abdelmalek to send her money in exchange for a broken phone screen as part of a sting operation with detectives, who were able to track the money back to the catfish.
Abdelmalek was a juvenile worker at Victoria’s maximum security Baron Prison when she was jailed for ‘dream land’ thinking in 2017.
She informed a judge during her appeal that she had also been misled by a phoney Lincoln Lewis, whom she had contacted on Facebook because she wanted to follow in his footsteps in his job.
“I always wanted to be an actor.” “I believe it was simply something I wanted to do, so I started asking people on Facebook about acting classes,” she explained.
Abdelmalek testified during cross-examination by her own lawyer that she was directed to transfer money into Jess’ account by someone posing as Lewis.
“I had asked him if I might pay him for his acting coaching at the time,” Abdelmalek explained.
“He opened a bank account for me and told me he didn’t want the money.” But he knew a single mother who was struggling, and he told her to put the money into this account and he’d pay it.
“Then I went to Westpac and deposited the money and got a receipt.”
When prosecutors told Abdelmalek that a phone in her possession had been discovered with Emma’s texts, intimate photographs of Emma, and Lincoln Lewis’ voicemail on it, she laughed it off.
She claimed that the messages appeared on her phone after she topped up her credit card.
Ms Moran, the prosecutor, responded, “What you’re saying is utter dreamland; it can’t happen.”
The prosecution told her, “You are the catfisher who constructed deception around these folks to the point that they couldn’t live their lives any longer.”
“No,” Abdelmalek stated emphatically.
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