GLANCING at the huge five carat Cartier diamond ring glistening on her engagement finger and the handsome man who’d just proposed, Megan Clarke beamed with happiness.
Their whirlwind romance sounded like something out of a fairytale, with bar manager Megan swept off her feet by charming Lord Bertie Underwood, who’d spent months winning her affections with luxury gifts and trips away.
Megan thought she’d met the man of her dreams, but it quickly turned into a nightmare[/caption]
However just months later Megan’s world was turned upside down, when she discovered the ‘Lord’ she’d fallen in love with was nothing but a serial scammer, who left her with a broken heart and £30k of debt.
Despite being in a relationship for 18 months Megan was devastated to discover she didn’t even know the real name of the man she loved, and even her engagement ring was fake.
Bizarrely, justice was served and ‘Bertie’ was sent to prison for five years for unrelated fraud charges – but absconded from prison in 2022 and is still on the run today.
Megan, 27, who has bravely opened up about the experience in a new Channel 4 series called Love Cheats, says: “When we were together I felt on top of the world. It really did feel like a dream come true.
“I’ve always been so independent, confident and outgoing – you just never think [something like this] would ever happen to you, or even someone you know.
“The idea of you knowing someone and them being in your life for that period of time and [you didn’t] even know their name – that’s not something you think happens.
“I thought I would have been ‘on the ball’ enough to spot it – but obviously not.”
‘Bertie’ turned out to be a serial fraudster, who Megan believes had no intention of marrying her[/caption]
A ‘true gentleman’
Megan met ‘Bertie’ back in 2017 when she was 20.
Despite being young she was mature for her age and fiercely independent and was career-driven – successfully setting up and managing a trendy bar.
At that point she had been happily single for two years.
She says: “I was very much enjoying the dating scene, going out on lots of dinner dates and meeting lots of new people.”
Then, while working in the bar one quiet midweek evening during the summer, she met Bertie.
Within days he’d sent a huge bunch of flowers to my work… There’s not that many ‘gentlemen’ out there who’d send flowers, just to ask you on a date
Megan Clarke
She says: “I remember clocking him as he came in. He was tall, dark, handsome, well-dressed. I was quite taken aback by how different he was to everyone else. He stood out.
“He introduced himself as Bertie Underwood. He was very well spoken, polite, well-mannered.
“He’d just moved to the island from the mainland… He was a horologist [someone who designs, repairs and makes watches].
“Within days he’d sent a huge bunch of flowers to my work.
“There was a note saying ‘it was lovely to meet you, be ready for 7pm tonight, I’m taking you on a date’. It definitely felt like what they do in the movies.
“There’s not that many ‘gentlemen’ out there who’d send flowers, just to ask you on a date.”
‘I felt on top of the world’
That week, the couple went on their first date – a meal at a fancy restaurant.
Megan recalls: “I dressed up, and wore a long black dress.
“We had champagne, a three course meal – it was really lovely.
“I was only 20 at the time, and I’d never had that treatment before.
“There was something there between us.
“He also told me he was a lord, it was something he was open about.
“He said his great great grandad had invented the Underwood typewriter and that’s where his name and money had
come from.”
That night the pair shared their first kiss, and their romance quickly intensified, enjoying luxury trips to London, days out in Bertie’s Bentley and when he went away on business trips he’d always bring back clothes or perfume as gifts, even buying Megan a car and a puppy.
Megan says: “Within a month of seeing each other every day we’d said we loved each other.”
A few months later, Megan moved into his beautiful three storey home with a sea view he said he’d bought at auction, and he also won round Megan’s family.
She says: “Everything did move very fast. He offered for me to move in with him, which at the time was a huge deal for me because I’d never lived with a partner before.”
Megan has worked hard to rebuild her life, and now has her own mortgage and business, despite being left £30k in debt[/caption]
A lavish proposal fit for a lady
Six months later the pair celebrated their first Christmas together, and Bertie proposed.
Megan says: “We were just sat on the sofa, having a drink. He turned around and said he had one more present left for me, and pulled out this very nice red Cartier bag, got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.
“The reason he proposed so early was he said his family were very traditional, and marriage was very important to them.
“Looking back I was young, but I definitely thought at the time I was a lot more mature. I was excited.”
Megan began excitedly planning her big day straight away – and it was a no-expense spared wedding.
Megan was also promised the title of ‘lady’ – a title she didn’t plan to use.
She says: “I’d think to myself ‘is this what it’s like marrying a lord?’ It was quite a surreal experience.
“We had everything set in stone, we had the date, wedding planning was in full swing.”
‘I started questioning everything’
Looking back, Megan realises now there were some potential red flags – but at the time she was blinded by happiness.
Bertie encouraged her to quit her much-loved job and work for him instead, and he didn’t allow any posts of him on social media, for example.
She says: “I couldn’t understand why it was so serious and important to him.
“He said his dad was so high up in the navy none of his family were allowed social media.”
Megan also quickly noticed they were getting a lot of post addressed to someone else.
When she asked Bertie he fobbed her off, but when the post showed no signs of slowing, two months before the wedding Megan decided to do some digging.
Megan says: “I went into his office. I started going through the drawers. I don’t really know what I was expecting to find.
“I [found] a wallet with numerous different bank cards in multiple different names. None of which were Bertie Underwood.
“I asked Bertie and his attitude changed instantly. He shut it down quite quickly and got very defensive and irate. It’s definitely when I started questioning everything.”
Romance scams: The facts
- Santander issued a warning recently after nearly £4 million was reported as stolen from the bank’s customers through romance scams over the past six months alone.
- Victims were aged between 18 and 93 – highlighting that adults of all ages are targeted by fraudsters.
- In 2023, men were slightly more likely to succumb to a romance scam, making up 52 per cent of cases, according to research by Lloyds Bank.
- When women do fall victim to a romance scammer, they tend to report higher losses – an average £9,083, compared to an average £5,145 lost by men.
- If you think you have been a victim of a romance scam, do not feel ashamed or embarrassed – you are not alone.
- Contact your bank immediately and report it to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or via actionfraud.police.uk.
- If you are in Scotland, please report to Police Scotland directly by calling 101.
‘Instantly I felt sick’
Retreating to her mum’s, Megan started delving deeper. She says: “Something wasn’t right so we started googling the names from the bank cards.
“Honestly, I was shocked. His mugshot came up everywhere, he was in multiple news articles.
“Instantly I felt sick.”
Megan discovered Bertie Underwood, along with Robert Doughty, and Robert Soanes-Madejski were just some of his many aliases he’d used over the years, and he had a long history of fraud.
He’d been sent to a young offenders institute for 27 months in 2012 after trying to con a businessman out of his £39,500 Bentley.
Before that in 2010 he’d pretended to be called Lord Robert J Doughty – a title he’d bought on the internet – with over a million pounds to his name, committing a number of fraud offences.
Heartbroken and £30k debt
Now, he’d successfully duped Megan and her whole family, and Megan claims she’s been left paying off his debt – although he’s never been convicted of any offences against Megan.
Soon after their split letters in Megan’s name started to arrive – with credit card bills in Megan’s name.
Megan says: “He’d taken out all of these things in my name without me knowing. Around £30,000.
“I don’t come from money and I had no savings.
“I’d also been working for him and he’d been covering my bills so I had nothing except the car he gave me and my engagement ring.
“I thought I could sell the ring, but it turned out to be fake [so] I just had to bite the bullet and start paying off the debt.
“We went to the police and action fraud [but] unfortunately there wasn’t a great deal they could do.”
This person who was my world was never a real person. None of it was real. He must have never had any intention of marrying me.
Megan Clarke
Luckily for Megan, while Bertie had told her he’d booked and paid for wedding suppliers, it later transpired he hadn’t confirmed most of them – meaning Megan wasn’t left with wedding debt when it all went wrong.
Megan adds: “I’m a very strong person but I had to move back home and I had days when I’d break down and cry crazy amounts.
“I’m so positive and happy but I did dwell on it. There were a couple of times I wondered if I might be depressed, which was so unlike me.
“It was horrendous but I made myself busy and focused on setting up my own photography business in 2019.”
‘None of it was real’
Not long after, Megan’s mum uploaded a Facebook post to warn others about Bertie – and it quickly went viral.
Megan says: “I had multiple men contact me to tell me they had been sleeping with him. Not only was he cheating on me, he was doing it in my bed, with men.
“This person who was my world was never a real person. None of it was real.
“He must have never had any intention of marrying me.”
About a year and a half later, Megan discovered he’d been arrested for fraud offences carried out on another victim.
She says: “I actually wrote to Bertie, to try and get some answers or closure I suppose, and he called me once from prison – but hearing his voice I just felt sick.
“That was the last time I spoke to him.”
He was sentenced to five years for fraud, however bizarrely in May 2022 Bertie escaped from prison – and he’s still on the run today.
Megan says: “I’ve been in town and seen someone and thought it was him before but I don’t think he’d return to the Island. It’s a very small place.
“He’s getting away with it because he isn’t on social media, and no one knows who he is.”
Onwards and upwards
Megan has now worked hard to pay off the majority of the debt and rebuild her life, and now has her own mortgage and successful photography business – although she is still making debt repayments even now.
She says: “I don’t know what he spent it on – probably whatever we were doing day to day.
“Bills and letters were still turning up years later, literally just a few weeks ago I had an email about an outstanding credit card bill in my name.”
Megan is currently single, and admits the whole experience has put her off relationships.
She says: “I’ve always said ‘you should trust someone until they give you a reason not to’ but obviously [what happened] has had a massive effect.
“I want to believe there aren’t many people out there like him, but it’s easier said than done.”
Love Cheats airs at 9pm Sunday 20 October, on Channel 4.
Megan was shocked when she googled some of the names on the bank cards she found, and multiple police mug shots came up[/caption]
