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A mother and daughter from Longfield who were duped out of their £148,000 life savings by a "truly evil" fraudster say they will bear the scars for the rest of their lives.
But serial fraudster Rosie Grewal, 45, who is now out of prison after being jailed in 2019, has only been ordered to repay the victims of her heinous acts £1.
Kasia and Patricia talk about their experience
A confiscation hearing at Maidstone Crown Court earlier this year was told financial investigators were unable to find "hidden assets" they believed she held which would allow Patricia and Kasia Makucewicz to recover any of the money they'd lost.
Almost 10 years on from when daughter Kasia, 35, met Grewal – a customer at Asda in Greenhithe where she worked – the family's life has been turned upside down.
Widow Patricia, 64, whose husband Andy died suddenly in 2010, has now had to re-mortgage her home and will be paying it off for the rest of her life before it is passed on to Kasia.
A fundraising page on JustGiving has been set up by family friends of the Makucewiczs to help them financially after a judge ruled Grewal, of Rochester Crescent, Hoo, near Rochester, only had to pay back the nominal amount or face one day in prison.
Grewal convinced the pair to use the money to invest in property in Greenhithe, which Patricia said had always been something she and her husband had been interested in doing.
Patricia, who has a degenerative spine condition, said: "I'd hoped we'd have got enough money back to pay the mortgage off – £60,000 which is due in two-and-a-half years.
"I've literally just had to arrange a lifetime mortgage so that's how it's affected us.
"It's now going to be £100,000 because we've had to re-mortgage with all the loans and credit cards that we've racked up."
The mental strain and stress the past 10 years has taken on Kasia and Patricia is something they say they will live with forever.
"It was so profound that it will affect us for the rest of our lives," Patricia said.
Kasia says she's reluctant to try to meet a partner because she says she is struggling to trust anyone ever again.
But worse still for Kasia is the feeling of letting down her late father – a former head of science at Trinity School in Belvedere.
"He worked so hard all his life to set us up in case anything happened.
"By meeting her I blew it all. I can't help carrying that guilt."
Although the courts have ruled Grewal would have to repay monies to her victims if she acquired further assets, Patricia and Kasia believe that will never happen.
And the pair say they have no money to pursue a civil case themselves against Grewal to recover the stolen cash.
"We can't afford it. I've got a mortgage until I die and then Kasia will have to take it on.
"It's not the situation I ever wanted to be in and thought I would be mortgage free at least.
"By meeting her I blew it all. I can't help carrying that guilt..."
"We don't have to sell at least."
The mum and daughter say they have always been close but Patricia says their bond has been strengthened as a result of the terrible events of the past decade.
Kasia, who says she felt suicidal following the ordeal, said: "I was the one who met her so mum had every right to disown me.
"But I just feel like I've let my dad down.
"You don't wish it on anyone – I know it's a cliche – but you do think 'why us' and 'what did I do wrong to be so stupid'."
Patricia said she didn't want Grewal to go to prison because she had children and just wanted the money back.
Kasia added: "At the end of the day, we just wanted her to pay it back and do what was right."
The pair are disappointed not to have been able to recoup any of their money through the hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
And they said the 43-month sentence has been difficult for them to come to terms with.
"How can you put a time in prison on someone's anguish," Kasia said. "She lived very nicely on our money but now she's out and can live her life again.
"I think there should be some way of getting something back rather than just zero.
"We didn't even receive that pound."
"I think that would have been the ultimate insult," Patricia added.
"Obviously, we feel there's an injustice. Not in the way it was handled but the outcome of things."
Family friends Nicola and Roger Maxted have now set up a fundraising page in a bid to appeal to people who can spare any money to help repay Makucewiczs.
"They have been so brilliant and were so annoyed and incensed about happened to Kasia and I that they've decided to do something about it," Patricia said.
"Everyone's struggling at the moment and it's on about £300 but Nikki wants to get a lot more than that.
"We're quite embarrassed about the page but extremely grateful because it's not fair on other people and she (Grewal) should be repaying.
"We feel there's an injustice. Not in the way it was handled but the outcome of things...."
"It's people like Nikki who give you that little bit of hope.
"Our faith has been knocked but there are angels out there and she's one of them."
The mother and daughter say speaking about what happened to them will help raise flags for other potential victims of fraud.
Patricia said: "We're hoping to make people more aware and be cautious.
"If it sounds too good to be true it probably is and really do your homework.
"We didn't even sign anything."
"How can you put a time in prison on someone's anguish...."
One of their messages is about warning people to make sure people sign paperwork before exchanging any money saying they were caught up "in a whirlwind" as Grewal put pressure on them to give her money.
"It was always 'it's got to be done now' and was always very quick and 'I'm coming over and taking you to the bank'," said Kasia.
"It was a complete whirlwind and she would just turn up and say we're going.
"When mum got to the bank she basically told her to shut up and that she'd deal with it.
"But rather than doing a transfer from one account to another she took control and it was all cash."
Patricia said: "It was bad enough my husband dying the way he did.
"He just came home one evening, had his dinner as usual and sat in a chair and never woke up.
"We'd been married since 1977 and he died in 2010."
Following her father's death, Kasia moved back to Kent from Brighton to be with her mum and support her.
She started working at Asda in Greenhithe and started to recognise Grewal and her partner as regular customers before one day seeing him leaving a flat close to the store.
"When you're used to serving someone and you say 'oh hi, I didn't know you lived there and how are you?'.
"That's probably me being over-friendly now.
"He said he rented it out and I'd mentioned when I'd seen them at Asda how it was low pay and I wished it had been a higher paid job. He said had I heard of working tax credits, which I hadn't.
"He told me his partner was a financial adviser and put us in contact.
"It turned out to be her (Grewal).
"She sorted it all out and that's how she gained our trust and then asked about mum and set up tax credits for her."
While discussing their affairs for the tax credits, Patricia asked whether it was ok given the large inheritance lump sum they had following her husband's death.
Kasia said they were promised a return of between £500-£600 a month and Grewal told them she too owned properties and would be able to make better income than leaving their money in trust from the life insurance policy.
"She sorted it all out and that's how she gained our trust and then asked about mum and set up tax credits for her..."
"It was almost a sign from dad that this was our dream coming true and so we went ahead," Kasia said.
"We were always asking for paperwork but she said it was with solicitors and leave it with me.
"Dad sorted all this out and we'd never really known what to do and it was his domain.
"I thought 'she knows what she's doing' and came and picked mum up and went to the bank."
But the whole scheme was a scam with Grewal fobbing off Patricia and Kasia for three years, a court was told.
Hours before going on trial, Grewal pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud against Patricia – for £130,000 and £18,000 – between 2012 and 2015.
The mother-of-four was pictured sunning it up in Marbella and mixing with celebrities including Kerry Katona and Lisa Appleton as well as former EastEnders' actress Daniella Westbrook.
The sentencing hearing at Maidstone Crown Court in 2019 heard Grewal had previously conned further victims to invest in the Bellway Homes development near Bluewater.
The judge in the trial Charles Macdonald QC said: “These offences are truly evil.
"You have repaid not a single penny but you were able to arrange foreign holidays while awaiting trial."
For Patricia, there's only one thing she says which will help out her and her daughter: "That's a win on the lottery."
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