THE elderly widow whose will was forged by fake doctor Zholia Alemi was a wonderful, caring and intelligent woman, says her god-daughter.

It was only after the fraudster callously targeted 84-year-old Gillian Belham that the News & Star uncovered the shocking truth about Alemi – that she had worked as an NHS psychiatrist in the UK for two decades without ever qualifying as a doctor.

While working illegally as a locum psychiatrist at Workington Community Hospital in 2016, Alemi completed a dementia assessment on Mrs Belham.

A former Bank of England worker, who was skilled and experienced in managing financial matters, Mrs Belham had become frail and depressed following the death of her husband Gerald the previous year.

Struggling with her mobility, Mrs Belham was being supported by professional carers who became concerned for her welfare.

While those workers did their best to provide that care and support, Alemi saw Mrs Belham as a financial opportunity. She gave the widow a clean bill of mental health and discharged her from the Memory Matters dementia service – but then proceed to befriend Mrs Belham and take control of her financial and medical affairs.

In what a judge later said was a crime motived by “pure greed”, Alemi forged the pensioner’s will as part of an audacious attempt to inherit her entire estate, worth £1.3m. The fraudster was ultimately jailed for that offence.

For the first time, the News & Star has spoken to Mrs Belham’s god-daughter Karen Thornton, 56, whose mother had been a good friend of Mrs Belham. When Karen’s mother passed away in 2012, she lost touch with Mrs Belham.

Only after learning about the latest prosecution of Alemi for being a bogus doctor  – a case triggered by the News & Star’s investigation – did Karen learn about how the woman she knew as “Aunt Gill” had been callously targeted by Alemi.

Recalling Gill Belham, music teacher Karen said: “She was a wonderful lady.”

“She was my mum’s best friend and they both worked at the Bank of England [in London] together. Gill was my mum’s boss and she was quite high up in the Bank of England. Gill was my god-mother.

“When I was studying for my O-level and A-level exams, I’d move in with her place to reise because our house was a bit crowded. She lived in Northwood and we lived in Harrow. She gave me the run of her house.”

Mrs Belham eventually retired with her husband Gerald to Bridekirk, near Cockermouth. Karen remembers Gillian Belham fondly, including her regular visits to her home where she lived with her parents, her brother and her grandmother.

“She was one of the most beautiful women you could ever meet – gentle, caring, and generous,” said Karen. “She never judged people.

“She was also always very up-to-the moment fashion-wise, always very fashionable and she enjoyed socialising. She was also a part of our family. She’d come round on a Sunday for dinner.

“When my mum died in 2012, I made all of the necessary phone calls and I did speak to Gill. It was the last time I spoke to her.” After a series of house moves, Karen lost Mrs Belham’s phone number.

Describing how she felt when she discovered that Alemi had targeted Mrs Belham, Karen said: “It was a massive shock. What happened was absolutely appalling. If my mum had been alive, this would never have happened.

“I’d like [Alemi] to go through what Gill went through and go through that stress. This woman was in a professional role that she should not have been in; she was unqualified and the GMC has something to answer for.”

The 2018 trial at Carlisle Crown Court heard that Alemi’s attempt to strip Mrs Belham of her estate was exposed thanks to a carer who became suspicious after valuable watches which had belonged to Mr Belham went missing.

It was as police investigated that issue, and found the watches at Alemi’s home in Scaw Road, Workington, that evidence of the will fraud came to light. The fraudster claimed she was helping the widow with her finances.

She also claimed to have know Mrs Belham her late husband for “several years”, despite having met the widow for the first time when asked to assess her for dementia.

Alemi created a fake email account in Mrs Belham’s name, creating a false paper trail in a failed attempt to suggest that the widow wanted to leave her estate to Alemi.

Alemi also had the fake will signed by an elderly woman with dementia and by another neighbour, who was told she was signing a letter to Allerdale Council about Council Tax. Mrs Belham passed away in 2019.

Alemi was last week jailed for a further seven years after a jury found that her University of Auckland medical degree was a forgery and that she never in fact qualified as a doctor. Alemi - who owned several properties, drove fancy cars and collected Champagne - earned more than £1m during her 22-year fraudulent career.