Edgar Davids Art Fraud Case Delayed Again by Defendant's Injury Claim

The long-running fraud case over Edgar Davids’s missing modern art collection took another twist on Friday, when the woman who admitted pawning his works failed to appear in a London court – this time blaming a flying piece of luggage.

At Wood Green Crown Court in north London, judges and lawyers gathered expecting to finally sentence 39-year-old wealth manager Nabila Habiby. Instead, they were told she was in a Belgian hospital.

Defence barrister Hannah Thomas said she had received an email from her instructing solicitor at around 9.30am, explaining that Habiby had been on her way to the airport when she was struck on the head by a bag.

“She had a concussion, since she passed out, and was taken to the hospital where she remains on a drip,” Thomas told the court.

Judge Emma Deacon was not convinced. She described the medical documents supplied from Belgium, where Habiby now lives, as “inadequate”. But with the original trial judge unavailable, Deacon agreed to adjourn the case so that the judge who took the guilty pleas can eventually pass sentence.

That moment has been a long time coming.

A £188,000 collection, £31,500 in loans

The case centres on a collection of modern art worth £188,000 belonging to former Netherlands international and ex-Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Davids.

Back in December 2014, as he moved from his house in Hadley Wood, Hertfordshire, to an apartment in central London, Davids handed Habiby the keys to his home and entrusted her with placing his possessions in storage.

Instead, the court heard, she took 37 paintings and works of art – including pieces by Paul Insect and Ron English that Davids had bought from the Opera Gallery in New York between 2006 and 2012 – to pawnbrokers.

Using the art as collateral, Habiby obtained £31,500 in loans. The scheme only unravelled when she defaulted on those loans, the pawn shops sold the works on to collectors around the world, and one buyer contacted Davids to ask about the history of a painting.

Only then did he realise his collection had vanished.

Some of the works have since been recovered. Twenty-five are still missing.

Guilty pleas, repeated delays

Habiby was first charged almost five years ago, following a Metropolitan Police investigation into fraud offences dating back to 2015 and 2016.

In September 2025, she pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud. She was granted bail but warned she could face up to 34 months in prison.

Sentencing, though, has become its own saga.

A first attempt in March collapsed when Habiby tried – unsuccessfully – to withdraw her guilty pleas. Friday’s hearing was meant to draw a line under the case. Instead, it added another chapter of delay and doubt.

With the court still waiting for a satisfactory explanation of her latest no-show, Habiby has now been ordered to attend for sentencing on 23 September and to provide a full medical report to justify her absence.

Five years after charges were first brought, and more than a decade after Davids entrusted her with the keys to his home, the question lingers: when will this case finally be closed – and will all of his missing art ever be seen again?