Edgar Davids Art Fraud Case Delayed Again Due to Injury Claim
The long-running fraud case over Edgar Davids’s missing modern art collection took another twist in London on Friday, when the woman who admitted pawning his works failed to appear for sentencing – saying she had been knocked out by a bag at an 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.
Guilty pleas, but no sentence
Habiby admitted in September 2025 to two counts of fraud after securing £31,500 in loans by handing over 37 paintings and works of art owned by the former Netherlands and Tottenham Hotspur midfielder.
Davids had trusted her with the keys to his home in Hadley Wood, Hertfordshire, in December 2014 while he moved to an apartment in central London. Instead of arranging storage, she took his collection – including works by Paul Insect and Ron English, bought from the Opera Gallery in New York between 2006 and 2012 – to pawnbrokers.
The scale of the loss was huge. The collection was valued at around £188,000 ($254,000).
Davids only discovered what had happened when Habiby defaulted on the loans, the pawn shops sold on the pieces to collectors around the world, and one of those buyers contacted him to ask about the painting’s history.
By then, the art had scattered. Some pieces have since been recovered, but 25 works are still missing.
Despite her guilty pleas, Habiby walked out of court on bail with a warning she could face up to 34 months in prison. The expectation was that sentence would follow swiftly.
It hasn’t.
A case that refuses to finish
The first attempt to sentence her, in March, collapsed when Habiby tried – unsuccessfully – to withdraw her guilty pleas. That delayed matters again.
On Friday, her case was back at Wood Green Crown Court in north London, listed once more for sentence. Again, it stalled.
Habiby was not in the dock.
Defence barrister Hannah Thomas told Judge Emma Deacon the defendant had been injured on her way to the airport in Belgium, where she now lives.
“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.”
The explanation did not come backed by strong paperwork. Judge Deacon said she had been given “inadequate” medical evidence from Belgium to support the story.
Even so, she agreed to adjourn again so that the original judge who took the guilty pleas could eventually pass sentence.
Clock still ticking
The delay underlines how long this case has dragged on. The alleged fraud dates back to 2015 and 2016, with London’s Metropolitan Police opening an investigation that led to charges almost five years ago.
Since then, Davids has watched the legal process crawl along while a significant slice of his art collection remains unaccounted for.
The court has now ordered Habiby to attend for sentencing on 23 September and to provide a full medical report to justify her absence on Friday.
The art is scattered, the player is still missing 25 works, and the woman who admitted the fraud has yet to hear her punishment. The next hearing will decide whether this saga finally reaches its conclusion, or drags on into yet another season.
