All language subtitles for Fatal.Fraud.S01E04.1080p.WEB.h264-CODSWALLOP_track3_[eng]

(theme music)

(Narrator) Every fraud
begins with a promise,

but most don't end in a murder.

I think all murder cases
are extremely traumatic,

but with this case,
it also goes beyond that.

(Narrator) A quick fortune,
easy money, or a life torn apart.

(Bryanna Fox) He was trying
to get as much money as he could.

Almost seemed like he wasn't
really even trying to hide

what he had done that much.

(Narrator)
But behind these illusions lie

calculated deceptions
carefully hidden in plain sight.

Romance fraud is
perpetrated on a victim

who thinks that the person is
their partner, their lover.

(Narrator) Sometimes these
criminals are backed into a corner

and feel their only
way out is to kill.

We called it the "Dirty
Rotten Scoundrel" case,

like the Steve Martin film,
except this was no comedy,

this was a tragedy.

(siren blaring)

(dramatic music)

(Martin Evans) So the first
I knew of this case is when

I received a press release
from Scotland Yard

flagging up a missing person.

I think the contrast
of the two individuals

who were tragically
brought together really

makes this case
particularly stand out.

(Narrator) In April 2012,
49-year-old Carole Waugh

vanished without a trace.

Martin Evans is
a British journalist

who followed the case
from the start.

He began by building
a picture of Carole's life.

(Martin)
So my name is Martin Evans,

and I'm the Crime Editor
at the "Daily Telegraph."

Carole was 49 years old
when she went missing.

She came from quite humble
origins, mining village

in County Durham
in Northeast England.

But she was very well travelled.

We knew that in her 20s,
she'd worked for an oil company,

had moved to Tripoli in Libya,
and had travelled

extensively through work.

She'd also done very well for
herself financially and had been

able to...to buy a flat
in Central London

in a very desirable location,

and by her mid-40s,
had paid the mortgage off there.

(dark music)

(Officer) Carole was
financially independent.

She lived a...a good lifestyle.

She...she lived in
a nice part of town.

And to all intents and purposes,
her family saw

that she was living
a glamorous lifestyle.

(Narrator) After several
years working abroad,

Carole returned to the UK in 2008
and had been living alone.

(Martin) From what I understand,
she did have,

I think, two long-term
relationships

while she was living overseas,
one with an Australian gentleman.

But my understanding is that by
the time she'd returned to the UK,

those relationships had ended
and she was essentially single

while she was living in London.

I think Carole was
a very private person,

and possibly also quite shy.

Perhaps found it difficult
to...to...to make friends easily.

She wasn't a particularly
gregarious person.

I think there was
a sense, perhaps,

that she was quite lonely.

She lived in Central London, which
can be quite an anonymous place,

a very transient community.

Despite the fact she lived
by herself in Central London,

she was still very close
to...to her family,

to her elderly mother,
who still lived in County Durham,

and her brother, Christopher,
who lived in Cumbria.

We know that she would speak to
her mother several times a week.

(Officer)
Since she moved back to the UK,

she was lonely.

Due to her loneliness,
she started to seek companionship.

(Narrator) In early 2011,
Carole began a new relationship

with a man she met online.

(Martin) Rakesh Bhayani, a married
man from Wembley in North London.

And they became friends,
and eventually

embarked on a relationship.

He would take her to casinos
and lavish her with gifts.

And, you know, she...she obviously
enjoyed the attention.

(Officer) It was clear
that Carole and Bhayani

had been in regular contact.

I mean, it was fair to say that
we could assume that they were

having some kind of relationship.

(Narrator) Bhayani had a dark past
that he kept hidden from Carole.

(Martin) Rakesh Bhayani,
he was a fraudster,

a serial criminal, a liar,
and somebody who had spent

his life in and out of prison.

He had numerous convictions.

Yeah, a very, very
undesirable character.

(Bryanna) I'm Dr Bryanna Fox.

I'm a psychological criminologist
at the University of South Florida

and a former FBI Special Agent.

It seems, from the law enforcement
investigation into this case,

that Bhayani actually was
a gambling addict himself.

He spent enormous sums
of money on gambling.

(Martin) He'd actually been banned
from every branch of Ladbrokes

in the country for trying
to pass counterfeit notes.

(Bryanna)
One thing that often happens

is they call it
good money chasing bad,

where people who are
gambling addicts think,

I've lost all of this,
but you know what?

My next time,
I'm going to get it back,

on the next hand,
on the next play.

And they keep doing it
because they think

they're going to win the enormous
sums that they lost back,

but really, the hole just
gets deeper and deeper.

(Narrator) A few months
into their relationship,

Bhayani asked Carole for a loan.

Bhayani, obviously he was
a very accomplished con man

and swindler, and so he didn't
just immediately ask Carole

for a huge amount of money
because she...you know,

she may have understandably
been suspicious.

I think his strategy was...
was more canny than that.

He initially asked her
for...for small loans,

which he then paid back quickly,
and by doing that, won her trust.

(Bryanna) It's obviously important
when you're in a relationship

that the trust is there so
the person isn't going to take

advantage of them financially,
but people who are con men

and are successful at it,
they look for vulnerable victims

that either are going
to be in denial,

not willing to see
what's going on,

are more vulnerable
to love betrayal

where they have this need
for friendship and companionship,

and the person that they're
trusting takes advantage of them.

(Martin) Bhayani clearly
had a lot of charm.

He was clearly a very persuasive
person, you know, despite the fact

he'd been caught many times
and been to prison.

There was clearly something about
him that was very persuasive.

(Bryanna) Carole was looking
for a companion,

and he filled that gap for her.

Nothing about her that was
wrong or deficient

or she wasn't
a good judge of character.

He is that convincing
and good at it.

(Fiona Hotston Moore)
My name is Fiona Hotston Moore,

and I'm a forensic accountant
and expert witness.

Fraudsters prey on
the vulnerabilities of the victim.

They prey on the loneliness
of the victim.

It very quickly becomes
a relationship as opposed to

just having met the person.

And they know how
to play that person.

They encourage them

not to share what's going on
with their friends,

so they encourage them
to be isolated.

So after a period of time,
the loans that Bhayani was

asking for increased, and
eventually, after several months,

he asked for a 40,000-pound loan,

which was obviously
a considerable amount of money.

Of course, he's a charming guy.

This guy could charm
the birds from the trees.

Some people believe
what they want to believe.

They don't want to believe
that they've been conned

by somebody close to them,
conned by somebody

that they are close to.

For somebody that's relatively
well off as Carole was,

it's not that uncommon to give
a rather expensive gift

to somebody that they care about
as a romantic partner,

but $40,000 in cash
doesn't exactly say romance.

So I think law enforcement,
when they see this,

they think,
why was this woman giving

her partner with
a gambling addiction

such a large sum of money?

Was this really a gift,

or was he essentially
coercing her?

And it seemed very likely
that the latter was possible.

(Narrator) During her
relationship with Bhayani,

Carole's flat was broken into.

(Officer) I think Carole
might have suspected

that Bhayani had been
involved in the burglary

where a number of her items
had been stolen.

But even so, she still
maintained the relationship.

This doesn't mean that
Carole was foolish.

It just shows us
what an accomplished con man

Bhayani really is.

Offenders like Bhayani who are
just brilliantly eloquent,

they are very charming...

I mean, I've been
in rooms with them

where I have had conversations

and I'm laughing.

They're so likable,
you have to almost

remind yourself
of what they've done.

You feel sorry for the victim,
thinking, wow,

they never saw this coming.

(Narrator) In 2011, Bhayani
became involved with people

in the London criminal underworld.

While he was seeing Carole,
Bhayani managed to get his hands

on some counterfeit money, got
himself involved in some gangs,

some...some dangerous people
you don't want to mess with,

but this all backfired,
because Bhayani soon got arrested

and found himself
in prison on remand.

(Martin) By that stage,
his relationship with Carole

was such that she supported him.

Rather than turning away
from him, she...

she went to visit him in prison.

We know she wrote
a letter of reference

to the judge describing him
as one of the good guys.

It's clear that by that stage,
he had completely hoodwinked her

and she was completely
in his corner.

(Narrator) While in prison, Bhayani
met 48-year-old Nicholas Kutner.

They are essentially
two peas in a pod.

Another serial fraudster
and con man,

he's got a string of convictions.

But by the age of 19,
he was already in prison

for fraud and had racked up
almost 100 offences

by the time he meets Bhayani.

And Kutner, he was deeply
unpleasant, incredibly arrogant.

He'd been adopted as a child and
had...had a privileged background

growing up with a wealthy family.

But during his time, Kutner
has still managed to build up

quite an impressive
criminal resume.

He'd been arrested
at least 13 times

and had got over 90 convictions
to his record.

His favourite cons included
jewellery and fine wines.

He would also exploit girlfriends,
stealing from them

and stripping them of assets.

(Narrator) Kutner's previous
frauds included using his

girlfriend's identity to buy
5,000 pounds in fine wine

and using fraudulent cheques
to purchase

jewellery worth 17,500 pounds.

(Officer)
When Kutner and Bhayani got out

of prison, they stayed in contact.

And at this point, Bhayani was
still in the relationship

with...with...with Carole,

and he was still borrowing
money from her.

(Martin) When Bhayani comes
out of prison, the scales

haven't fallen from
Carole eyes by that stage.

She resumes
the relationship with him

and is trying to do everything
she can to help him.

She genuinely believes that
she can turn him around

and help challenge
his gambling addiction.

She lends him 12,000 pounds,
which he says will pay

for rehabilitation,
but, of course, you know

that money's going
straight to the casino.

I think there is a stigma
attached to romance fraud.

I think people are
very embarrassed

if they're caught out in this way.

They're probably very flattered
to have a relationship,

and therefore, when
the relationship turns out

to be fraudulent and not to be
an affectionate one

or one driven by affection,
they are embarrassed

and they are very reluctant

to tell friends and family
and authorities.

(Narrator) On April 16, 2012,
phone records showed

Carole and Bhayani made
contact with another man,

whom Bhayani also
owed 17,000 pounds.

The purpose of that meeting
was for Bhayani to come

to arrangements
to pay them both back.

We think by that stage,
Carole had become

more suspicious about
Bhayani's motives

and was...was now asking to get
her money back from him.

(Narrator) After the 16th of April,
2012, Carole Waugh disappeared.

Three months later,
police were called

to Carole's flat to deal with
a case of suspected rental fraud.

(Officer)
I got a call from officers

in Central London that
complaints had been made

by two potential tenants.

Both these tenants
had paid a deposit.

One of them had paid 3,900 pounds,
the other had paid 7 grand.

They only found out
that they'd been scammed

when they both showed up
to move into the same apartment.

Of course, they then
called the police.

I went along to Charing Cross
Station to see what was going on.

I was given a briefing,
realised that this wasn't right,

this needed a real investigation.

(ominous music)

(Narrator) The would-be
tenants had told police

they paid deposits to a man who
claimed to be Carole's brother.

(Officer) Carole was really great

at keeping in touch
with friends and family,

but no one had heard from her.

No one had heard from her
for months.

I mean, Carole's brother was
even more concerned

when he realised that somebody
had been impersonating him

to rent out Carole's flat.

At that point,
that was a huge red flag.

(Narrator) The disappearance
of Carole Waugh

shocked her family and friends,
who she had always

maintained regular contact with.

(Officer)
Carole's brother told us

that Carole always maintained
contact with her mum

and with the rest of the family.

And she had a 50th
birthday coming up,

and there had been
previous plans for her

to...to go up north to see
the family as a celebration,

but no one...

I mean, no one had heard from her.

(Narrator) After speaking
with Carole's brother,

police began an investigation
into Carole's disappearance.

We started looking
into Carole phone data,

and there were
inconsistencies in how

she would usually use her phone.

There was just texts
that just didn't seem right.

No one had seen her for months.

There was definitely
something wrong.

I suspected that she was dead.

(dramatic music)

If I were looking
at bank statements

and there was a concern that
the person had been killed

as opposed to gone missing,
then I would be looking

at the nature of the expenditure.

Is this of expenditure that

that person typically
would be incurring

or that we might think they
might be incurring in order

to stay disappeared, stay missing?

Or is this sort of
expenditure that's

not typical for them,
and therefore,

suggest there's more behind it?

(Narrator) As well as
looking into her phone

and financial records,
police began investigating

Carole's last known movements.

We pay particular attention
to the people

that she'd been in contact with
just before her disappearance.

(Narrator) Police identified
Rakesh Bhayani

as a person who Carole had
regularly interacted with

in the months before she vanished.

They brought him in
for questioning.

In any investigation,
the first interview is crucial.

We just wanted
to get Bhayani to talk.

I sent two officers to go
and interview Bhayani.

I told them, just speak
with him, let him talk.

Let him commit to his version
of events, and then from there,

we will look into
some inconsistencies.

(Martin) So he's brought in
for questioning,

and initially,
like all good con men,

claims to be completely clueless.

"I have no idea what
they're talking about."

But there's...there's obviously
evidence there that...

that points to...
to...to his involvement.

(Officer) He then started
to spin this amazing tale,

how him and Carole,
they'd planned this together.

They planned her
disappearance to South Africa,

and she was going
to cut off all contact

with her friends and family.

So he said the plan was
was that she was to disappear.

He was to sell her assets,
generate as much income

from her assets
and properties as possible,

and then 18 months later,
she would just re-emerge,

saying, I've been robbed.

One thing that law enforcement
wants to look into immediately,

if they see somebody
who has gone missing,

but is very financially well off,

of course, is,
are they really missing?

Did they just run away
with a circus, so to speak,

or is there foul play?

He then comes up with this
rather extravagant story,

and it was all part
of an insurance scam,

and I would claim the money
and then we'd split it.

And...you know, he was
a plausible character, and...

and initially,
some of the detectives

seem to be taken in by his...

his cover story.

The two officers came in
to debrief me.

They told me, "Boss, boss,
you've got it all wrong.

She was actually involved."

I said, "Guys, I hope
you haven't lent him any money,

because you guys
have been conned."

(eerie music)

(Narrator)
After questioning Bhayani

about Carole Waugh's disappearance,

police decided to dig
deeper into his story.

When we interviewed Bhayani
for a second time,

we were able to probe his story.

Where had she travelled from?

Where had she gone?

Had she gone by airline?

Had she travelled
under her own name?

Did she pay for things?

Did she pay for this herself?

Did you take her to the airport?

We knew that if he answered
any of these questions,

we would find that
digital footprint.

We would find out which
airline, where she'd been.

There would be evidence of that.

His story just started to fall
apart, and at that point,

we knew that this whole
thing was nonsense.

(Narrator)
Now more suspicious of Bhayani,

police continued
their investigation

into their suspect's past.

(Martin) Bhayani was
a very accomplished con man.

He had fake identities.

When he met Carole, he tried
to pass himself off as a...

as a heart surgeon
at a top London hospital.

I'm not sure anybody really knew
who Bhayani actually was

because he had so many
different sort of facets

to his character,
different identities.

(Narrator) Using phone records,

police were able
to place Carole, Bhayani,

and Nicholas Kutner together on
the evening Carole disappeared.

Bhayani and Carole and Bhayani's
accomplice were in the area

of her flat on the 16th of April.

(Officer) The 16th of April was

the first time
that Kutner, Bhayani,

and Carole all came together.

It was somewhere
in the Harrow area,

which isn't too far away
from Carole's flat.

We know from the phone records
that they travelled by car

together back to Carole's flat.

We suspect that something
happened that night in the flat

because Carole was
never seen again.

(ominous music)

(Officer) I mean,
it became obvious that

everything had changed
after the 16th of April.

I mean, her phone records
showed that the phone

was being used at
different times to normal,

being turned on at different
times in the morning,

going off at different
times at night.

The messages,
it just didn't add up.

There was something definitely,
definitely wrong.

(Narrator) Police began focusing
on Carole's bank account

and spending activities
after the 16th of April.

(Fiona) As a forensic accountant,

we would be looking at things
like bank loan applications,

and the transfers,
and trying to look and see

whether actually the people making
those applications can make them.

So in this case, it would be
straightforward and that any money

that was spent after...once you
knew the date of Carole's death,

once that had been proven,
any money spent

would be fraudulent because
her monies and her assets

should have been frozen
at that stage.

So in the weeks after
Carole's last known sighting,

thousands of pounds are
withdrawn from her bank accounts,

from ATMs across London.

Some of these transactions
are caught on CCTV,

but that's very suspicious
activity because as we know,

Carole was...was very frugal,
and that sort of activity,

withdrawing large amounts
of money, just was...

was not something that...that
she was...she would usually do.

Carole's finances, this all seemed
to change after the 16th of April.

Money was drained
from her accounts,

taken out on ATMs
on her cash card.

There was even loans being
taken out in her name,

when Carole was really careful
with her money.

This was really,
really out of character.

Even an application was made
to refinance her flat.

This just didn't add up.

(Narrator) Bhayani maintained
that he knew nothing

about Carole's whereabouts,
and during their investigation,

police discovered several
potential sightings of Carole.

(Martin) There are reports
of women looking like Carole

purchasing expensive items,
which is not something that...

that Carole would
normally have done.

She was a frugal woman,
not...not somebody

who would spend large
amounts of money

on...on luxury goods like handbags.

Very, very suspicious activity.

(Officer)
So we saw from the bank records

that...that Carole's card
had been used

in many luxury stores in London.

You know, designer
handbags and the like.

So we approached the stores,
and at that time, CCTV was taped.

It was generally overwritten
every 24 hours.

We had statements from staff who...

who said that, yes,
a female of Carole's description

had made these purchases.

But we still didn't have
a definitive sighting of Carol

at that time.

(Narrator) Rakesh Bhayani
and Nicholas Kutner's behaviour

after April 16 and 17th
also raised suspicions.

(Martin) On the day after
Carole's disappearance,

we know that Bhayani went
into a Bond Street jewellers

where he attempted
to buy a diamond ring

for 40,000 pounds in cash.

(Officer)
The day after the 16th of April,

we know that Kutner went
to Hatton Garden.

A lot of Carole's jewellery
had gone missing,

and our investigation then
showed us that that jewellery

had been sold at Hatton Garden.

(Narrator)
Faced with this evidence,

police decided to charge
Bhayani and Kutner

with fraud offences in relation
to Carole's disappearance.

(Officer)
Bhayani was arrested under charges

of abduction and fraud.

He was, at this time,
insisting that Carole was alive.

Kutner, he was also arrested
on return from holiday.

We sent two officers
to the airport,

and that's where
they arrested him.

He was interviewed,
but during interview,

he didn't say a single word.

(solemn music)

(Narrator)
On August 2, 2012, police searched

a lock-up garage in South London,
recently rented by Bhayani.

In early August, three months
after the last sighting of Carole,

her body is found
in a Volkswagen Golf,

which is in a lock-up
in New Malden in South London.

Sadly, the body was badly
decomposed by that stage,

and that meant
it was very difficult

for forensic pathologists
to establish a cause of death.

(Officer) The problem is,

is that when we found
Carole's body,

she was incredibly decomposed.

Initial investigation, we...

we struggled to find
a cause of death,

but we did find a single
stab wound to the neck.

There could have been other
wounds to Carole's body,

but on initial investigation,
we just couldn't determine that.

You've got to remember that Carole
had been dead for four months

by the time we found her.

(Narrator) Once Carole's
body was discovered,

Bhayani changed his story.

Bhayani now tells us that
everything he's told us before

were complete lies,
and that what actually happened

is that he and Kutner
entered Carole's flat

and found her already dead.

They just didn't know
what to do, so they decided

to get rid of the body and
continue committing their fraud.

It was all just complete rubbish.

Even after Carole's death,
Bhayani didn't stop.

He actually was trying to rent out
her flat, used her jewellery,

brought it to pawnbrokers.

He was trying to get
as much money as he could.

It almost seemed like he wasn't
really even trying to hide

what he had done that much.

(Officer) I mean,
I started to suspect

that Bhayani had
introduced Kutner as a...

a way to expand on
the fraud against Carole.

And I suspect that...
that Carole smelled a rat.

Just because of the way
that Kutner presented himself,

I believe that
she probably suspected

that they were conning her.

And she confronted them.

She maybe even threatened
to go to the police.

But I believe that's
why she was killed.

All we had to do now was prove it.

(Narrator) In August 2012,
Rakesh Bhayani and Nicholas Kutner

are charged with
the murder of Carol Waugh.

Police began examining
their behaviour in the months

after Carole's death.

After Carol disappeared,
they began stripping

her assets with cash withdrawals
from cash machines,

selling her assets.

They eventually applied
for loans in Carole's name.

They even tried to remortgage
the property,

and eventually, they must have
settled on renting out the flat.

It was at that point that
it came to our attention.

(Martin) After Carole's death,
Bhayani and his accomplice

go straight to the casino.

Spend thousands at
the roulette table.

They check into a five-star hotel.

They go to ATM machines
and withdraw cash.

They start selling her jewellery.

They basically go on
a lavish spending spree.

They're certainly behaving
like people who've

just come into a big windfall.

(Officer)
They were living in posh hotels,

living the high life.

They were spending money like
it was going out of fashion.

Staff remembered how
obnoxious Kutner was,

remembered them
screaming at staff.

Bhayani was also seen to lose
over 20 grand in a casino

in one single night.

(Martin) Bhayani is then
hell-bent on getting

everything he can
out of her estate.

So first of all, he sells anything
that he can get his hands on,

but it goes further than that.

He realises that the biggest
asset she has is this...

this flat in Marylebone, which
is worth hundreds of thousands

of pounds and is mortgage-free.

So realising that, he applies

for a 200,000-pound bridging loan,

which he gets.

So he's now got 200,000 pounds
plus a load of stuff

that he's pinched from her flat.

(Narrator) In October 2013,
Rakesh Bhayani and Nicholas Kutner

were brought to trial
for the murder of Carole Waugh

and fraud against her estate.

(Martin) The trial took place
at the Old Bailey,

and Bhayani and his accomplice,
who had admitted fraud charges

but both denied murder,

went on trial before
Mr Justice Wilkie.

It came out at trial
when we discovered

that he'd recruited
a number of women

to pose as Carole
to carry out his scams.

Bhayani later admitted
to paying several women

to impersonate Carole when making
these types of purchases.

These were the women that had
been identified in the CCTV

and within the luxury stores.

Some of these women,
also now involved in the fraud,

were later prosecuted
for those offences.

But I think that
really just does go

to show sort of level
of sophistication

he was willing to embark on
to get hold of Carole's money.

It seems like Bhayani had
enough of forethought 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,

or if the authorities ever
go to that store and said,

you know, "Did Carol actually
use her credit card here?"

They could pretty well remember
or show on CCTV that it was a man.

So he was trying to cover this up
and cover his tracks by having

people enlisted to serve
as Carole impersonators to go

purchase these expensive goods.

(Narrator) One of the most
damning pieces of evidence

was the location where
Carole's body was found.

(Officer) The thing that
absolutely nailed this

was the use of the car
and the garage in New Malden

where the body was found.

Both the car and the garage were
both linked to Rakesh Bhayani.

Police find this Volkswagen Golf
in a lock-up in New Malden,

and they trace the vehicle
to a man 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,

but on driving it away,
had been stopped

by the police on suspicion
of driving without insurance

and the car was confiscated.

So he'd then gone back
to the same chap

and had bought a second car,
which was the Volkswagen Golf,

and had used that
to store the body.

Initially, he parks that car
with Carole's body in the boot

behind John Lewis
in Oxford Street,

which is not too far
from Carole's flat.

He goes on his lavish
spending spree,

but then clearly,
in May, starts to worry

that the body might be discovered.

So he and his accomplice
then go and collect the car,

and they drive to the Cotswolds.

And we think the idea was
perhaps to find a secluded area

to...to dump the body.

(Officer) We know that these
two guys went to the Cotswolds.

We know it through phone
records, ANPR records.

This is two guys who
never leave London.

We believe that this
was a first attempt

to dispose of Carole's body.

But actually, it seems that
when they get to the Cotswolds,

they discover that it's
actually quite a popular place

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 in New Malden

where they store the car

until Carole's body is
discovered in August.

(Narrator) There was also damning
evidence from an innocent associate

of Bhayani who testified that
Bhayani had paid him to book

the lock-up garage in New Malden
where Carole's body was discovered.

(Officer) So Bhayani tells him that

he needs to rent a garage
to store a classic car,

which, of course, he didn't own.

This evidence, at the very least,

proves that they were
concealing the body.

This alone made them guilty of
perverting the course of justice.

(eerie music)

(Martin) I think for me,
one of the most

shocking aspects of this
case was the behaviour

of Bhayani after the murder.

He didn't seem to be traumatised
by what he'd done.

You know, he wasn't
a seasoned killer.

He hasn't...he hasn't
killed before,

but he didn't seem remotely
bothered by the fact

that he took somebody's life.

He...he just carried on spending.

(Fiona) In Carole's case,
it was extreme.

So the fraudster tried
various methods

in order to get at the money.

So he tried to refinance the flat,
he tried to let the flat out,

he emptied her bank account.

So there was...he was
very desperate.

He was trying to get as much out
as quickly as he could,

presumably, before it was actually
discovered that Carole was dead

and her assets would
then be frozen.

So there were two distinct
aspects to this fraud.

There was the prior-to-death
fraud, which we know about.

But then once she was killed,
they just continued.

The body was just an inconvenience
that they needed to get rid of

so they could continue
defrauding Carole.

And even after she was
dead, in their eyes,

she was ripe for exploitation.

They had no remorse.

(Martin) We know that
before Carole's death,

Bhayani was only really interested
in one thing, and that was...

was getting money from her.

But then he really, really
cynically, after the murder,

he carries on with that.

The only thing he's interested in
is getting cash.

And it really talks to
what he thought of Carole.

She was only ever
a cash cow to him.

He didn't seem concerned
about what he'd done.

He didn't seem to be
remorseful for what he'd done.

While he is absolutely
unempathetic towards his victim,

I would say that for Bhayani to
just walk away when he has access

to such a large sum
of money, in his mind,

that would be almost wasteful.

He already committed murder.

He needed the money,
so he thought,

I'm just going to take
full advantage.

That is despite the fact that,
increasingly, his chances

of being caught go up every single
time he accesses her money,

but the temptation to take
that money was just too great,

so he felt, in his mind,
like he had to do it.

(Martin) He didn't even seem
that worried about being caught.

You know, he treated her body
with no respect at all,

and of course,
just goes on this kind of

roller coaster spending spree.

And he would have carried on
until every penny

that he could have got
out of her had gone.

And I think, yeah,
that really talks to

the sort of character that he was,
utterly ruthless, utterly selfish,

caring only for himself
and...you know, and money.

(dramatic music)

(Narrator)
During his trial for murder,

Bhayani continued to insist
he was innocent.

(Martin) Bhayani's defence,
as you could imagine,

for an accomplished con man,

was to immediately blame
his accomplice,

what's known as
a cut-throat defence.

He claimed that he had
nothing to do with it,

and it was all his
accomplice's doing,

and he was entirely innocent
apart from the fraud charges,

which he'd admitted.

(Narrator) Both Bhayani
and Kutner had a long history

of fraud convictions.

(Martin) There was nobody who was
safe from his fraudulent activity.

He tried to remortgage
his own parents' home,

his own brother's home.

He essentially...
his...his life was...

was about money
and stealing and fraud.

You're talking about a guy
who ripped off his own family.

He set up a fake
Gamblers Anonymous hostel.

He filled it with actors posing as
gambling addicts and counsellors.

Then he invited his
wife over to prove

that he was attending
Gamblers Anonymous.

This guy has just got
no conscience whatsoever.

(Narrator) While Bhayani
admitted to defrauding Carole,

he continued to deny murdering her

despite the mounting
evidence against him.

(Officer) To see him
in the witness box

telling lie after lie,
what a performance.

He was convinced that he was
going to turn that jury.

I mean, I've never seen
a performance like it

in the witness box, and I've
seen a lot of murder trials.

The sheer arrogance,
it was just phenomenal.

(Martin) I think all murder
cases are extremely traumatic,

understandably,
for families of the victims

and the loved ones of the victims.

They sit there and they hear
the awful details of...

you know, of the last hours
of...of their loved ones.

But with this case,
it also goes beyond that

because Bhayani's activities
after the murder are

really quite shocking
and upsetting.

His behaviour was...was so callous,
it showed that he had

no feelings whatsoever for Carole.

He had no remorse whatsoever.

He didn't accept what he had done.

And I think that must have been
an additional agony for...

for her family
to have to listen to.

(Narrator) In November 2013,
Rakesh Bhayani and Nicholas Kutner,

who had both faced murder charges,
finally discovered their fates.

The jury returned a guilty verdict
of murder for Bhayani.

His accomplice was
acquitted of murder

but was convicted of perverting
the course of justice

in helping to dispose the body.

And the trial judge,
Mr Justice Wilkie,

said it was an act
of great callousness

borne out of greed,
but he did concede that

there was no premeditation,
that this was a spur-of-the-moment

action by Bhayani.

Bhayani was sentenced
to a mandatory life sentence

with a recommendation that
he served a minimum of 27 years

before he becomes
eligible for release.

(sombre music)

(Narrator) The total
amount of the fraud

committed against Carole Waugh
was estimated to be

over a quarter of a million pounds.

(Fiona) Bhayani spent
a lot of money

very quickly after
he killed Carole.

That suggests that he wasn't
emotionally attached to Carole.

It suggests, perhaps,
that he was very greedy,

that he was very desperate.

Perhaps he knew that it was

only a matter of time

before he would be discovered.

Continued crime after murder
really impacts

a judge's view of this person.

I mean, for one, it shows
that the murder didn't just

end their criminal behaviour,
that this was heat of the moment,

something that went too far,
there was an argument,

they did something
almost unintentionally.

At that point,
that goes out the window,

and it shows that they were
willing to cover up the murder,

didn't call the police,
commit more crimes afterwards,

and show no remorse whatsoever.

That really colours how bad
this offender is in the judge

and community's minds.

(Officer)
When they were convicted,

I just thought, job well done.

We called it the "Dirty
Rotten Scoundrel" case,

like the Steve Martin film,
but this was no comedy.

An innocent woman had died.

(Narrator)
Despite the guilty verdicts,

details of exactly how Carole
died that night remain unclear.

(Martin) So we think back at
Carole's flat in Marylebone,

she's there with Bhayani
and his accomplice,

and she confronts him about
his...his finances and the fact

that she's lent him
all this money.

She's clearly, by this stage,
beginning to realise

what he is and who he is.

I think that perhaps
she confronts him

and there's an argument about
her demanding the money back.

And of course,
Bhayani probably can't

pay her back because,
you know, his life is...

is a tissue of lies, essentially.

(Officer) I don't believe
that the murder was planned.

I think Carole smelled a rat.

I think Carole threatened...
she threatened

to go to the authorities.

Bhayani desperately needed money

to feed his growing
gambling addiction

and to pay back the gangsters
for the counterfeit cash.

(Bryanna)
I think throughout this case,

there's a lack of planning that's
evident in Bhayani's behaviours.

It seems that Bhayani
and Carole had gotten

into a heated argument actually

the same day that
she had been killed.

It certainly just
may not have been

his ultimate goal to kill her,

but even though he was
engaging in these, you know,

fraud and financial schemes
to benefit himself,

he was absolutely willing
to engage in this violent crime

to cover it up.

(Officer) Carole obviously
didn't know how bad he was.

When you're financially and
emotionally involved with someone,

you don't want to admit
that you've made a big mistake,

but of course, you still
want to try and find

a way to recoup your losses.

She was owed a lot of money,
and she wanted that money back.

She couldn't afford to take the
losses of not having that money.

(Bryanna) She wanted to believe
that she had this partner.

She was getting older in age.

She really didn't have a lot
of people around her...

so somebody that was going
to take care of her,

that 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.

And he was very good at hiding it.

He was stealing things from her.

He had answers to
where the money went.

It wasn't entirely apparent
how much she was taking advantage

of her, and if she did have
any thoughts of him doing this,

I think she tried
to put it out of her mind.

(Martin) Carole Waugh was
a very trusting person.

I think essentially,
her biggest failing was

the fact that she was so trusting.

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.

She wanted to believe in him.

I think she wanted to believe
in people and the good in people.

(Officer) These men had absolutely

no conscience
that Carole had been killed.

All they cared about is how
they could keep this fraud going

and how much money they could get.

(Martin) Unfortunately for her,
she met a man who was greedy,

callous, and essentially cared
for nothing but himself.

(sombre music)

(theme music)

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