Mum accused of conning Chester pensioner out of more than £70k on trial with her son

Mia Cavalli, 42, and her son Charlie Smith, 24, are accused of conning the man, who at the time was an 81-year-old Chester resident.

Cavalli is accused of defrauding the man, now aged 83, out of a series of payments made between September 2019 and January 2020, including on a Rolex watch.

Cavalli and Smith are accused of deceiving the man by claiming Smith, of Abbotts Walk, Windsor, was a serving Metropolitan Police officer in the Armed Response Unit, who needed a "safe car" to drive, with the pensioner spending £13,000 on a Ford car for him.

The two defendants deny all charges.

They claim the money was given voluntarily, as part of a so-called 'sugar daddy' sexual relationship between the pensioner and Cavalli. The court heard hundreds of messages were exchanged between the two, including exchanges which led the pensioner to purchase items from Nice 'n' Naughty in Chester, and telling her to wear "loose bra, no knickers" when meeting for a meal in the city.

The trial, taking place at the so-called Nightingale court at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Chester, is expected to last between five and seven days.

Prosecuting, Kevin Jones said it was in September 2019 when Cavalli, of Cuppin Street, and the pensioner first met at the Caramel Cafe Ristorante in Rufus Court. They engaged in conversation and the man said he was looking to sell his home and move to renting in Chester, while Cavalli said she was an events manager with jewellers Cartier.

Cavalli said she knew of a Chester property which was on the market, and they arranged a viewing appointment, with the pensioner moving into that flat.

Cavalli then said she was having a serious operation at the Countess of Chester Hospital, which the man believed to be for breast cancer.

After meeting her at the hospital, Mr Jones said the pensioner found her in distress, saying she had not received her payslip for that month, and was facing eviction from her flat for not paying the rent.

The man loaned her £2,200 to pay the rent, followed by smaller payments of £200-400 to pay for 'expenses'. Cavalli claimed her payslip was being dealt with in Switzerland, causing a delay, but she would get money from an ISA at Natwest.

In police interview, the man said Cavalli later told him the £34k ISA could not be obtained as she had had "a meltdown" in the bank and they were being difficult with her.

It was then that Cavalli claimed there were a series of debts which needed to be paid off. The man agreed on January 3, 2020 to pay £26,000 to her, plus an additional £2,500 the following day upon being told "can you pay a little more?"

On January 6, Cavalli said there was a £28k Rolex watch which the pensioner could have for a heavily discounted price. He agreed to pay £8,000, saying that £3,000 of that was a loan, the other £5,000 was to be paid back.

Finally, Cavalli said she was worrying about her son, who was said to be driving an unsafe car.

It was agreed to purchase a Ford car from Evans Halshaw, total cost £13,007.53.

Throughout all this time, the complainant said, the money was loaned and would be "paid back and more", as Cavalli was in the process of selling a £3.8 million house in Windsor which TV chef Heston Blumenthal was interested in purchasing.

The man estimated he was owed more than £70,000, and had been told that Cavalli would pay him £93,000.

In the first police interview, the man said he would call his and Cavalli's relationship as "acquaintances".

In the second police interview, after police had interviewed Cavalli, the man was asked further about his relationship with Cavalli.

He said there was one night where she had asked to come to his flat, and when she arrived, she was half-naked and "jumped" into his arms, and they ended up on the couch.

"It was a fumble, no more than that," the man said.

He added she would send him "obscene, dirty" messages and he would reply in a "jocular" way.

On another night, she turned up with "equipment", which turned out to include a sex aid, which the man said he was "sickened by her behaviour".

He stressed it was "100 per cent not a physical relationship."

Under cross-examination by Paul Simon, defending Cavalli, the man denied knowing that Cavalli had confessed she didn't work for Cartier but was actually an escort, or that the "major surgery" was not for breast cancer but was actually a mammaplasty procedure.

This was despite the pensioner visiting Cavalli in the hospital and seeing she was not in a cancer ward.

Mr Simon told the court the pensioner had deleted messages from his phone to Cavalli from December 2019 which included, on December 3, a chat for the pensioner to pick up some DVDs from Nice 'n' Naughty "near the station".

Cavalli sent the pensioner a message talking about sex acts they could perform together, to which the pensioner replied: "So horny!!!!!"

Having been to the sex shop, the pensioner wrote: "I bought everything [requested] and bought a little something pour vous."

When questioned by Mr Simon what those items were, the pensioner said: "I bought two videos that she wished to have."

After the two met that evening, the pensioner wrote a message to Cavalli the following morning, saying: "God I enjoyed last night, can we do it again soon?"

Asked what he meant by that message, the pensioner replied: "I was referring to a pleasant evening...talking to a friend."

Cavalli also sent a message to the pensioner later that month, talking about the idea of "becoming a kept mistress", saying the idea turned her on as she was "not in control".

The pensioner responded: "Come round now please [to my flat]".

The 83-year-old said he had deleted his texts from his phone up to January 2, 2020 "accidentally" as he was "not au fait" with technology.

He said he had purchased a gift of "a bunch of flowers" as a gift for Cavalli to leave on her doorstep, a claim which the defence said was a lie, and the gift was actually a golden sex aid.

The pensioner denied that, but confirmed the gift had been purchased from Ann Summers.

The trial continues.