Speaker 1: Kielder. I'm Chelsea Daniels and this is the Front Page,
Speaker 1: a daily podcast presented by The New Zealand Herald. A
Speaker 1: christ churchwoman told friends she was dying of cancer. They
Speaker 1: grieved and gave thousands to help her. But then the
Speaker 1: unthinkable happened.
Speaker 2: It was all the fast.
Speaker 1: Nicola Flint is accused of forging medical letters and defrauding
Speaker 1: a rugby club of more than one hundred thousand dollars.
Speaker 1: Today on the Front Page, senior crime reporter and host
Speaker 1: of A Moment in Crime and Elease has been diving
Speaker 1: into this case with a special two part series on
Speaker 1: Flint's diagnosis deception. She joins us. Now, first off, Anna,
Speaker 1: let's set the scene. How did this start?
Speaker 3: So Nikola Flint told friends that she had been diagnosed
Speaker 3: with cancer.
Speaker 2: And you know, this is a really good friend.
Speaker 3: She's telling her best friends that she's found the slump
Speaker 3: in her breast and she's had it tested and it
Speaker 3: is cancer. And then over the next seven years that
Speaker 3: lie grew and grew and grew, and everyone believed that
Speaker 3: she had staged four terminal cancer. That you know, she
Speaker 3: was about to leave two children without a mum, that
Speaker 3: they were you know, they were helping her plan her
Speaker 3: funeral and where her ashes would be scattered, and you know,
Speaker 3: doing things for her kids and planning on how they
Speaker 3: would help look after the kids. There was just this
Speaker 3: web of lies of that she was telling different friends
Speaker 3: different things about her treatment and you know, different explanations
Speaker 3: for why she wasn't having chemo and she was having
Speaker 3: this and that, and it just you know, these were
Speaker 3: her best friends and nobody really thought to question her
Speaker 3: on it. You know, she told her children she was dying.
Speaker 3: She was helping them get ready for when mummy wasn't there.
Speaker 3: So they were like, well, you wouldn't do that if
Speaker 3: you weren't really really sick. And she just sucked so
Speaker 3: many people in with this absolute fantasy of you know,
Speaker 3: having cancer, and we now know, and the police have
Speaker 3: said very openly that there is no evidence Nikola Flint
Speaker 3: has ever been diagnosed with cancer.
Speaker 1: Isn't that incredible? Imagine your friend coming up to you first, first,
Speaker 1: and foremost. There are a lot of people out there
Speaker 1: who have had a friend or a loved one come
Speaker 1: up to them and say and have that conversation and
Speaker 1: say that they have cancer and have those real life
Speaker 1: talks as well. Those friends would have felt completely and
Speaker 1: utterly dumbfounded when they found out. When did it start
Speaker 1: to unravel for her?
Speaker 3: In twenty twenty four, it all started to unravel when
Speaker 3: she was investigated for a lot of money going missing
Speaker 3: from a football club where she was working, and you know,
Speaker 3: that sort of came out and she was charged with
Speaker 3: taking one hundred thousand dollars from the football club. And she,
Speaker 3: you know, was saying to the friends, Oh, it's it's
Speaker 3: not what it looks like. I'm innocent. But at the
Speaker 3: same time she fled the country, she went to the UK.
Speaker 3: The friends were still you know, at that point no
Speaker 3: question that this this poor woman, she's so sack and
Speaker 3: now she's got this and you know, and then the
Speaker 3: a friend had found some letters that Nicola had given
Speaker 3: her from a cancer specialist. You know, oh, here's the
Speaker 3: latest update on my condition. And the friend went, what
Speaker 3: if she doesn't have cancer, Let's go back to those
Speaker 3: letters and just see what's what. And she was reading
Speaker 3: through this letter and she's like, I think that I
Speaker 3: don't think this is real. I think this has been
Speaker 3: copying pasted, and the signature didn't look right, and the
Speaker 3: letter had looked funny. So that letter eventually was obtained
Speaker 3: by the police and they checked up and these these
Speaker 3: cancer doctors whose signatures were on these letters were like,
Speaker 3: that's not me. I didn't write that, that's not my
Speaker 3: medical opinion. And as I said, police were able to
Speaker 3: publicly say, there's no evidence Nikola Flint ever was diagnosed
Speaker 3: with cancer. You know, by then, she'd told people early
Speaker 3: on that she had survival cancer, and then it was
Speaker 3: its back and its breast cancer, and she was telling
Speaker 3: people who you know, one of her friends who I
Speaker 3: spoke to, she'd lost her mum to cancer when she
Speaker 3: was a tiny, tiny child, so she'd grown up without
Speaker 3: a mum. And you know, she said to me, I
Speaker 3: know the hole that cancer leaves. And I was never
Speaker 3: going to question a friend, you know, I just wanted
Speaker 3: to support her. There was another friend whose husband had died,
Speaker 3: and Nichola had supported her through her husband dying from cancer.
Speaker 3: So you know, and as I said, her children were
Speaker 3: told they were being prepared for when Mom's not here.
Speaker 3: She taught her daughter how to braid her own hair
Speaker 3: for when I'm gone, then you can do it yourself.
Speaker 3: So when the police dropped this bombshell that there's no
Speaker 3: evidence of this woman ever having cancer. Everyone sort of
Speaker 3: just went wow, and the friends started to effectively compare
Speaker 3: notes and realize that all been absolutely.
Speaker 2: Lied to and scammed.
Speaker 3: For lack of a better word, but they've all told
Speaker 3: me that Nikola had a way of keeping them separate.
Speaker 2: It was a bit of a divide and conquer.
Speaker 3: She would tell them things about each other to make
Speaker 3: them wary of each other, to make them cautious. She'd
Speaker 3: say things like, oh, well, have you heard this, Chelsea's
Speaker 3: been saying this about you, but don't tell her I
Speaker 3: told you this, or don't tell such and such about
Speaker 3: my latest diagnosis. So all these friends were sort of
Speaker 3: pushed apart and kept apart, so you know, they weren't
Speaker 3: talking amongst each other about Nikola, so where there were
Speaker 3: red flags, they sort of felt guilty for thinking that
Speaker 3: up until police came out and said, well, there is
Speaker 3: no cancer.
Speaker 2: And it's interesting as well.
Speaker 1: People might listen to this and think, how could they
Speaker 1: not have known? Right, and everybody does and that's completely normal.
Speaker 1: But when you've got that trusting relationship with your friend,
Speaker 1: you're being told all of these different things and you're
Speaker 1: given evidence. It seems oh like that of a better word.
Speaker 1: Would you question your friend?
Speaker 3: And this is the thing. These women that I've spoken
Speaker 3: to were her good friends. They considered her family. You know,
Speaker 3: their kids thought each other, they were their second moms,
Speaker 3: and they just there was no question. Your friend comes
Speaker 3: to and says I should have got cancer and you
Speaker 3: don't question that. Yeah, you would go immediately and to say, really,
Speaker 3: do you call that place, have some evidence, let's see
Speaker 3: all of the stuff.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but then she did have these letters that backed
Speaker 2: it up.
Speaker 3: And you know, she would turn up to things and
Speaker 3: she would have a plaster on her arm because she'd
Speaker 3: had this treatment, or you know, she would be dropped
Speaker 3: off at places or should be booked in for things,
Speaker 3: and you know, people were like, well, she's definitely having treatment,
Speaker 3: but no, none of it was true.
Speaker 1: So what has she officially been charged?
Speaker 3: So she's facing around nine charges and the christ which
Speaker 3: just recurt The majority of those are for the theft
Speaker 3: and basically the misappropriation of funds from this football club.
Speaker 3: But there is also a number of charges for forging
Speaker 3: documents and these are the cancer specialist letters and the
Speaker 3: charge is worded that she forged the documents with intent
Speaker 3: to have people believe she had cancer and in some
Speaker 3: cases to obtain financial advantage.
Speaker 2: It is alleged that she used.
Speaker 3: One of the cancer letters to medically retire from Amzi Bank,
Speaker 3: where she'd worked for many years. They paid her eighty
Speaker 3: four thousand dollars in a medical retirement package because she
Speaker 3: had terminal cancer, and so she's charged with fraudulently providing
Speaker 3: them that letter in order to get that money. So
Speaker 3: I think the total of the money that she's accused
Speaker 3: of stealing is one hundred and eighty plus thousand dollars.
Speaker 4: I genuinely thought that she had cancer. She would go
Speaker 4: into great detail about some of the symptoms that she
Speaker 4: was experiencing and that were horrific treatments she was having.
Speaker 4: Occasionally there would be a band aid on her forearm
Speaker 4: because she was having treatment. Occasionally you'd think, oh my gosh,
Speaker 4: really what I remember asking how are you going to
Speaker 4: have chemotherapy? And you know, I was told that the
Speaker 4: type of cancer she had didn't react chemotherapy. And you
Speaker 4: know this went on for years, years like five six seven.
Speaker 1: And you mentioned as well, you've spoken to her friends.
Speaker 1: When speaking to them, how did they come across were
Speaker 1: they anger? I mean, I suppose that they're going through
Speaker 1: all of these stages of grief, right.
Speaker 3: I mean, they've been grieving her for years. You know,
Speaker 3: they had you know, her best friend came out from
Speaker 3: the UK and Nikola took her up to Marpu at
Speaker 3: the top of the South Island and they sat and
Speaker 3: she said, this is where my ashes will be scattered.
Speaker 3: So Emma was grieving her for years, and every time
Speaker 3: she left New Zealand, she was like the last time
Speaker 3: I'm going to see my childhood best friend. And she
Speaker 3: was racked with guilt and she's always so worried about
Speaker 3: the kids.
Speaker 2: And then you know, when all this came out, she
Speaker 2: just was so angry.
Speaker 3: And a lot of them were bewildered, and a lot
Speaker 3: of them have spoken about you know, they had these
Speaker 3: moments where they sort of think of Nickola and they think, oh,
Speaker 3: that poor woman. Hang on a minute, and so you know,
Speaker 3: some of them have had to retrain the way they
Speaker 3: think about it because they go to this place of
Speaker 3: grief and upset when they think about Nickola, and then
Speaker 3: they're like, hang on, if it was true. Some of
Speaker 3: them still have moments where they think, but what if
Speaker 3: it was, and then they just remember that police officer
Speaker 3: on national television saying there is no evidence Nikola Flint
Speaker 3: was ever diagnosed with cancer.
Speaker 2: They're angry and they're hurt. They just feel really betrayed.
Speaker 3: Some of them, you know, paid for things, you know.
Speaker 3: One friend said that every time she did something with Nicholas,
Speaker 3: she would pay but dinners, lunches, you know, just to
Speaker 3: make sure that was spending her money on cancer treatment.
Speaker 3: Her friend in the UK, the best friend from childhood,
Speaker 3: her parents gave something like thirty thousand pound because Nikola
Speaker 3: had said she didn't have money to pay for a
Speaker 3: cancer top up, which meant she could have unlimited treatment
Speaker 3: in New Zealand and so they when Emma told her
Speaker 3: parents this, the parents went straight and transferred the money
Speaker 3: to New Zealand. So, you know, that's a lot of
Speaker 3: money that was given to her full cancer treatment for
Speaker 3: a disease she just did not have. So her friends
Speaker 3: feel ripped off and they feel foolish. They know that
Speaker 3: it's not their fault, and they know that they were
Speaker 3: you know, they've said they were groomed, and they've talked
Speaker 3: about how manipulative she was, how devious and how clever,
Speaker 3: you know, keeping them all apart and keeping the story separate,
Speaker 3: and making sure that they weren't talking to each other,
Speaker 3: just to keep up this this web of lies how
Speaker 3: they've described it.
Speaker 1: And you can imagine, well, people, and that's no fault
Speaker 1: of their own at all, because I can imagine a
Speaker 1: situation where if I ever a touch would got cancer.
Speaker 1: My best friend's parents would chip in as well. It's
Speaker 1: a completely normal thing to do. When you love someone
Speaker 1: and you're really close to someone, you do anything. You
Speaker 1: would do anything you can.
Speaker 3: I mean, cancer is a cruel and hideous disease, and
Speaker 3: if someone that you're close to, you know, is diagnosed,
Speaker 3: then you want to move heaven and earth to make
Speaker 3: sure that you can do everything you can to lighten
Speaker 3: their load. And that's what these friends were doing. And
Speaker 3: it's just they're just so, you know, shocked, outraged that
Speaker 3: they were just taken for such a ride.
Speaker 1: And you've spoken to some family members as well, Hey.
Speaker 3: Her husband's so I've spoken to her husband's sister and
Speaker 3: another member of the family.
Speaker 2: Who are just appalled.
Speaker 3: They had fallen out with Nikola before this cancer diagnosis
Speaker 3: over other lies. They say that we're told and just
Speaker 3: when they heard about the cancer. You know, they were
Speaker 3: reaching out and trying to do what they could, but
Speaker 3: they were suspicious. They've never found her to be an
Speaker 3: honest person, but they never thought, you know, it would
Speaker 3: get this bad. They told they say that she would
Speaker 3: say things like, you know, she grew up in a
Speaker 3: house like Downton Abbey, and you know she was Banker
Speaker 3: of the Year in Bermuda, where she'd been working, and
Speaker 3: there was just story after story, and they would just think, well,
Speaker 3: most of the time, she's pretty normal. So these weird stories,
Speaker 3: you know, they're just it's just Nickola. But they're just
Speaker 3: disgusted and what she's done. They're really upset. You know,
Speaker 3: Nicholas fled the country with her husband and kids. They
Speaker 3: just haven't had contact with the kids, and they just
Speaker 3: want the kids to know how much they're loved and
Speaker 3: missed by their family in New Zealand. They want Nicholas
Speaker 3: husband Andrew to know how much they're loved and missed.
Speaker 3: And I think that, you know, they've lost lot more
Speaker 3: than just a friend. They've lost contact with people that
Speaker 3: they really really love, and they're pretty angry because they
Speaker 3: feel that that's you know, Nikola has manipulated their family
Speaker 3: away from them.
Speaker 1: And you mentioned obviously she fled to the UK. Do
Speaker 1: we have any idea where they are now?
Speaker 2: We believe they're in Wales. She has family living in Wales.
Speaker 3: When they first went to the UK, she moved in
Speaker 3: with her best friend Emma and stayed with her for
Speaker 3: a while, still maintaining she was having cancer treatment and
Speaker 3: that sort of thing. And then they fell out and
Speaker 3: Nicola and Andrew and the kids went to Wales and
Speaker 3: then that's the last Emma's had contact with them, So
Speaker 3: we don't.
Speaker 2: Know exactly where they are.
Speaker 3: I've reached out to Nicola and Andrew a number of
Speaker 3: times asking them to get in touch, giving both of
Speaker 3: them the opportunity to have a chat about what's gone on.
Speaker 3: You know, if Nicola can't talk about what's happening and
Speaker 3: with the charges in court, then can she explain the
Speaker 3: cancer diagnosis?
Speaker 2: Can she explained the unexplainable? Really?
Speaker 3: Can she tell people why she's told these stories? And
Speaker 3: there's just been no contact at all.
Speaker 1: So what is the likelihood that she will ever come
Speaker 1: back to New Zealand and face these charges in christ Church?
Speaker 1: So the people that know her the best say she'll
Speaker 1: never come back. Why would she.
Speaker 3: There is a warrant out for her arrest, so as
Speaker 3: soon as she comes back to New Zealand, she will
Speaker 3: get arrested. But police have said they weren't extradite. Obviously
Speaker 3: that's a long, lengthy and costly process and it's just
Speaker 3: not something they're going to look at for this at
Speaker 3: the stage. So I don't, you know, based on what
Speaker 3: the people that know who the best have said, I
Speaker 3: don't think she'll come back, which means, you know, as
Speaker 3: her friends say, they.
Speaker 2: Feel she's gotten away with it.
Speaker 3: They would like her to come back and answer the
Speaker 3: charges and you know, face up to what she's done allegedly.
Speaker 3: But they just they said there's no reason for her
Speaker 3: to come back.
Speaker 1: So thanks for joining us, Anna, thank you.
Speaker 2: That's it for this episode of.
Speaker 1: The Front Page. You can read more about today's stories
Speaker 1: and extensive news coverage at enzidherld dot co dot nz.
Speaker 1: The Front Page is hosted and produced by me Chelsea Daniels.
Speaker 1: Caine Dickie is our studio operator, Richard Martin, our producer
Speaker 1: and editor, and our executive producer is Jane Ye. Follow
Speaker 1: the Front Page on the iheartapp or wherever you get
Speaker 1: your podcasts, and join us next time for another look
Speaker 1: beyond the headlines.