Edgar Davids Art Fraud Case Delayed Again
The long-running fraud case over Edgar Davids’s missing modern art collection took another twist in London on Friday, as the woman who admitted pawning his works failed to appear for sentencing, claiming she had been injured by a bag on her way to the airport.
Nearly five years after she was first charged, and more than a year after she pleaded guilty, 39-year-old wealth manager Nabila Habiby is still waiting to learn her fate.
A £188,000 collection, £31,500 in loans
Davids, the former Netherlands and Tottenham Hotspur midfielder, had entrusted Habiby with the keys to his home in Hadley Wood, Hertfordshire, in December 2014 while he moved to an apartment in central London.
Among the possessions she was meant to place in storage was his £188,000 collection of modern art: 37 paintings and works by artists including Paul Insect and Ron English, bought from the Opera Gallery in New York between 2006 and 2012.
Instead, Habiby took the pieces to pawnbrokers and secured £31,500 in loans against them.
Davids did not realise the works had vanished until Habiby defaulted on the loans, the pawn shops sold the art on to collectors around the world, and one buyer contacted him to ask about the painting’s history. By then, the collection had been scattered.
Some of the works have since been recovered. Twenty-five pieces remain missing.
Guilty pleas, but no sentence
Habiby pleaded guilty in September 2025 to two counts of fraud. She was released on bail and warned she could face up to 34 months in prison.
Sentencing, though, has repeatedly stalled.
The first attempt, in March, collapsed when Habiby tried unsuccessfully to withdraw her guilty pleas. On Friday, the case was listed again at Wood Green Crown Court in north London. Again, she was not there.
Defence barrister Hannah Thomas told the court that Habiby, who now lives in Belgium, had been on her way to the airport when she was allegedly struck on the head by a piece of luggage.
“I received correspondence this morning from my solicitor, at around 9.30am (0830 GMT), saying on her way to the airport to come here she had been hit on the head by a piece of luggage en route,” Thomas said.
“She had a concussion, since she passed out, and was taken to the hospital where she remains on a drip.”
Judge Emma Deacon said the court had been given “inadequate” medical evidence from Belgium to back up the account. Even so, she agreed to adjourn the hearing so that the original judge who took the guilty pleas could eventually pass sentence.
Nearly a decade in the making
The case stems from a Metropolitan Police investigation into fraud offences dating back to 2015 and 2016. Habiby was first charged almost five years ago, yet the legal process continues to drag on while Davids’s collection remains incomplete and scattered.
The court has now ordered Habiby to attend in person for sentencing on 23 September and to provide a full medical report explaining her absence on Friday.
After years of delay, the next hearing is set. Whether she finally walks into the dock is another matter.
