EXCLUSIVE My friend told me he was a producer on Strictly and had a brain tumour... and then stole thousands from me - it was a pack of lies

Daily Mail​

2 days ago

A heartless fraudster who conned an old school friend out of thousands of pounds by telling him he had terminal brain cancer has been freed from prison just days after being convicted - leaving his victim fearing '100 per cent he'll do it again'.
Matthew Howarth, 32, of Atherton, Greater Manchester, was jailed last month for fraud by false representation, having callously told Tom Lee he only had weeks to live.
Tom, also 32, who was vulnerable after splitting up with his long-time partner, became distraught at the thought that Howarth might die without specialist private treatment and handed over £2,700 to help save his friend's life.
But his compassion turned to distress after Tom discovered Howarth's illness was a fantastical lie - one of many he claims he was fed over 14 months.
When Howarth was sentenced to 12 months in prison at Wigan Magistrates Court, his former friend believed there was at least some sense of justice for the emotional and financial pain that had been inflicted on him.
But within just days, Howarth successfully appealed and had his imprisonment reduced to a 20-week suspended sentence, with three months on an electronic tag.
Other conditions , including paying Tom £1,200 compensation and obeying a two-year restraining order, remain the same.
Yet his victim has been left seething that the con man is 'out and about like nothing happened' - and fears others could fall prey to him once more.
Howarth, 32, contacted Tom (right) out of the blue, around 16 years after they left secondary school, then falsely informed him he only had weeks to live
Since his conviction, MailOnline has heard from others who became embroiled in Howarth's deception and can now reveal his 'wild lies' stretch back at least ten years - while using no less than five aliases.
Aside from feigning terminal cancer, Howarth previously spun a narrative he was a successful BBC producer who had amassed millions of pounds.
According to the story he told Tom, the courts had put a block on his assets because he was 'being blackmailed' for 'knowing too much' about other celebrities.
He claimed to be involved with flagship TV shows, including Strictly and Children In Need, and set up private Facebook groups promising 'insider knowledge' to fans.
The groups - named Switched On! and Strictly Between Us - featured a dazzling array of celebrities, including Claudia Winkleman, Tess Daly, Shirley Ballas, Michelle Visage, Louise Redknapp and Melanie Blatt.
These household names would write effusive posts praising Howarth's talent. Yet all of these 'celebrity' members were unmasked over time as fake profiles operated by Howarth himself.
Scores of Facebook members also reported receiving unsolicited messages and emails - seen by MailOnline - that were sent from Howarth detailing how he had endured a troubled childhood and was now facing financial difficulty.
According to the recipients of those emails, he allegedly received money from at least one woman and 'gifts' from others who took pity on his plight.
MailOnline understands that when they threatened to expose him to the police, Howarth ceased his social media activities - but turned instead to finding a victim in the 'real world'.
It was at this moment Howarth rekindled his friendship with Tom having not been in contact with him for 16 years.
Speaking for the first time about his betrayal, the telecommunications worker told MailOnline he is still coming to terms with the 'sick' lies told to him by a man he considered his friend.
'After all, if somebody is going to scam someone, you would think they would do it to a person who doesn't know absolutely everything about them,' reflected Tom.
It was at Hesketh Fletcher High School, now renamed Atherton High School, that the pair first met.
'We were good friends all the way through school,' explained Tom. 'We were both quiet and shy and grew very close.'
At the end of their GCSEs, Tom and Howarth transferred to Pendleton Sixth Form College in Salford, where they 'started to drift apart a little', and by the time they ended their studies each naturally went their own way.
Over the years, Tom often wondered what happened to his old classmate, but it seemed he had vanished without a trace.
'I tried to find him, but couldn't see him on Facebook. I later found out he just had a very locked down profile, so people couldn't find him.
'He would add somebody if he wanted to, but he didn't want to be found. He made himself hidden.'
Little did Tom know it was during this time that jobless Howarth had begun running a series of Facebook groups, where he played out the fantasy of being a prominent producer for BBC and ITV.
During these years he went under a variety of aliases that included Matt Alan, Matt Eagleton, Matt Totton, Matt MacLean and Matt Totton Eagleton.
Having been chased off social media by those who had grown wise to his deception, Howarth turned to the friend he hadn't spoken to since he was a teenager.
Tom recalled: 'He contacted me around April 2023. My profile at the time was quite open on Facebook and I had posted about splitting up with my partner of nine years.
'He told me I was one of only a few people he liked in school and college, and that he wanted to get in touch with me again.
'Matthew claimed that when he was in the TV business in London, which was a lie, he met many people who had stabbed him in the back and he just wanted to reach out to a 'true' friend.
A profile posing as Claudia Winkleman - which was operated by Howarth - called him 'a star'
'We got talking and and decided to meet up. I was happy to have somebody to speak to, because in my past relationship I had become isolated from my friends and it was just me and her.
'After we split up, I didn't have anyone.
'To have someone reach out to me, who I had known from school and I thought was a friend felt really nice, because I wasn't in a good place at the time.
'But looking back now I think he had seen my posts on Facebook and knew I was vulnerable.'
Convinced by Howarth that it was 'good timing' and the rekindling of their friendship was 'meant to happen', Tom gradually welcomed his old school chum back into his life.
The pair would often hang out together at Tom's flat in Atherton.
'He never wanted to go out anywhere,' continued Tom. 'He would say Atherton was not a nice place. At the time, I didn't have a car and couldn't afford one and he doesn't drive, so we just hung around my flat.
'I since found out he was speaking to other people in the area as well, including two others who went to our school. He clearly just didn't want to be seen in the area, because people were starting to catch on to what he was doing.'
Just weeks after rekindling their friendship Howarth told Tom that had just months left to live after being diagnosed with a terminal brain tumour
Just four weeks into their renewed friendship, Howarth dropped a bombshell - and told Tom he had been diagnosed with a terminal brain tumour.
'It was such a rollercoaster of emotions. I thought I could start building a friendship again - and then he told me he had terminal cancer.
'I couldn't believe it. The one person who had got back in contact with me was now potentially going to die.
'I felt terrible for him and at the same time I feared I was going to go back to having nobody again.'
Unrepentant with his deceit, Howarth went on to relate how he had become extremely wealthy through his career as an executive TV producer - but that he had been blackmailed and had his assets locked away by the courts for his own protection.
After his diagnosis, the courts had 'allowed him to pay hundreds of thousands for private treatment at a hospital in Cheadle'.
He had private insurance, but there was an excess of £10,000 to pay for a new treatment and a generous 'friend' had given him £7,300.
'If he could get the rest of the money he would have a 90 per cent chance of living,' Tom recalled Howarth telling him.
'I didn't want to question what he was saying and ask to see proof of his cancer, because that's a strange thing to say if someone tells you such news - in most cases you would just believe them.
'He told me on another occasion he had been abused and I just didn't think anyone could make something like that up.
'I did have doubts about his TV career. It seemed far-fetched and unbelievable, but also slightly possible.
'He had been interested in TV and the media while we were at college. And I knew his name, his school, his address. I knew all this stuff. I thought surely he wouldn't lie and make it all up.'
Howarth went as far as telling Tom he wanted to 'just give up and die' if he could not get hold of the extra money needed for his 'treatment'.
Bolstered at the thought that Howarth could pay him back at some point - given that he was a financially viable 'millionaire' - he offered to take out a loan through his work while securing a second loan through a finance company to make up the balance.
'For me it was a case of a friend dying or a friend surviving - I couldn't just sit there quietly doing nothing when I could get a loan for them,' reflected Tom.
In October 2023, Tom transferred £2,700 to Howarth, with the understanding he would approach his friend for repayments once he was better.
But then Tom's financial situation became even more strained after Howarth told him the treatment was not working and he would likely die within months. It was at that moment he convinced Tom to buy a car.
'He kept saying he wanted to go out, but he couldn't drive and he didn't want to go around Atherton. I work from home so I didn't really need a car - but I really wanted to keep the friendship up with Matthew.
'I later regretted that when I saw how much I was having to pay for everything.'
Now saddled with two loans and a car finance agreement, Tom said some months passed before he was approached again by Howarth for more money that could fund 'groundbreaking treatments' for him.
This time he asked for £27,000.
'I told him it was not going to be possible. With the loans and the car finance, I didn't think I could even be approved for a sum like that.'
But Howarth became relentless.
'He asked if I could approach my family - and to tell them it was for repairs for the car. He lowered it to £14,000 pounds, but I told him that wasn't going to happen.
Howarth kept group members up-to-date with details about his ever-flourishing media career
'Then he told me the doctors said they could accept payment in two halves - £7,000 this month and £7,000 next month.'
It was at this point Tom began seeing red flags and approached his father and stepmother for advice.
But after searching Howarth's name, his stepmother came across a series of worrying social media posts referring to his past activities on social media and calling him a 'con man'.
There is even a dedicated Facebook group with nearly 200 members set up 'for those duped by Matt' established 'by those who helped put an end to his current web of lies, some of whom were also taken in for a time.'
'It was unbelievable,' said Tom. 'Even though I was shown all these things I still didn't want to believe it. I suppose you could say I was in denial.
'My stomach dropped and I felt sick. I saw the proof, but I didn't want it to be true.'
MailOnline spoke to a former member of Strictly Between Us, a private group for fans of BBC's flagship Strictly show, which was set up by Howarth under the name 'Matthew Alan' in 2017.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, she said: 'There were lots of celebrities on there, but they appeared under their less publicly known names. So Shirley Ballas, for example, was in there under Shirley Rich, her maiden name.
Shirley Rich - a profile purporting to be Shirley Ballas - posted 'if only there were more people in the world like [Matt]'
'When I look back at it, I think how on earth did any of us believe him? But we didn't know at the time that he was posting from these "celebrity" accounts himself.
'They all used to praise Matt and say how amazing he was. "Claudia Wink", who we thought was Claudia Winkleman, called him 'an absolute joy', while Shirley Rich posted 'if only there were more people in the world like [Matt].'
'All the posts were like that.'
Howarth kept his group members interested by posting 'behind the scenes' images from the Strictly set - though none showing him inside the actual location - as well as keeping them up-to-date with details about his ever-flourishing media career.
In one he told his followers how in just five years he had gone from being a BBC radio producer to moving into television to 'launch the Victoria Derbyshire programme on BBC 2', before being 'asked to oversee the production on Strictly & even producing Gary Barlow's "Let It Shine".'
He claimed at the end of the post that he had been appointed 'Vice-Chairman at Children In Need.'
The member also revealed that Howarth placed himself at the centre of major news stories at the time, including being at the scene of the Manchester Arena bombing on May 22, 2017.
Howarth told the group: 'The things I saw at the scene of the arena that night shall never leave my mind. I personally helped children find their parents that night, I stayed with some for a large amount of time. I was able to activate some local Children In Need emergency schemes, which helped families whose relatives couldn't be found or had come from a distance.'
An extract from a letter sent by BBC's security team to a group member who complained that celebrity profiles appearing on Howarth's groups were fake
The member said: 'I look back at that now and just think how could he do that? There were so many things not beginning to add up and I became concerned.'
Her alarm bells went off further after she received an email from Howarth detailing how he was 'struggling' with family traumas, while battling health and financial troubles.
The email stated: 'I'm very good at smiling to everybody and covering up the cracks so to speak, good at covering the emotions if you like, but right now it's all getting a little bit too much, and you being somebody I look up too [sic] is why I'm telling you my story.'
After receiving the email, she contacted the BBC and the police and claimed she was told: 'We know who this is - it's not the first time he has done this.'
A letter seen by MailOnline sent to her from BBC's security team added: 'This is not the first time that fake profiles have been associated to this individual...'
She said she became increasingly worried about Howarth's motives for contacting her and believed he 'knew how to manipulate'.
'I felt that he would have happily taken money from me if I had offered - and I thought, if you're doing that to me, what are you sending to the others?'
A second source, who also wishes to remain anonymous, told MailOnline that she had been contacted in 2015 by Howarth to join a viewer feedback group for Strictly called Switched On.
'I found it a little over the top,' she said. 'He was sending all these very long, rambling messages and pictures of himself, but there were red flags in the phrases he used.
'So he would say things like "believe me, you" instead of "believe you, me" - and then Shirley Ballas would say "believe me, you" and I thought, that's a bit odd.'
Concerned he was a scammer, the source spoke to TV personality Debbie McGee, who she knew personally and happened to appear on Strictly in 2017.
'I showed her a picture of him on my phone and when I asked if he was one of the producers she said no. I thought he's probably just a runner and has been bigging himself up.'
Then in 2019 she began receiving direct emails from Howarth similar to those received by others.
'He was obviously hinting at wanting money, but there was no way I was giving him any,' she said. 'It felt like classic conman stuff and I reported him to Action Fraud.'
After being presented with other similar testimonies, Tom decided to confront his friend - but was left surprised by Howarth's response.
'I told him I couldn't get the money and then I mentioned this evidence I had seen.
'He outright denied everything and still stuck to his story. Matthew seemed to cry on command.'
When Howarth refused to provide evidence of his 'illness', Tom reported him to police in August 2024 and did not see him again until he appeared in court.
Inquiries revealed Howarth - who lives with his housebound mother in Atherton, Greater Manchester - had no terminal illness.
He was even found to have shamelessly referenced the Princess of Wales' cancer treatment on his personal Facebook page, adding ironically: 'Someone I used to know lied about a cancer diagnosis to get benefits and a new property.
'What sort of despicable human being does that? Lowest of the low dregs of society. Shame on you!'
During proceedings, Wigan Magistrates' Court heard that Howarth 'was arrested and gave full admissions of guilt in the interview.'
Shazia Aslam for the prosecution added: 'He said he apologised for doing it and said he was not in the right headspace.
'He said he was in a bad mental space and for that reason he lied to the complainant about having a brain tumour and claiming it was causing him to become seriously ill.'
His defence solicitor Duncan Phillips said in mitigation that Howarth had 'suffered multiple traumatic events over a period of time and clearly he is a very vulnerable individual himself.'
Despite being handed a custodial term, within days Howarth successfully appealed and had his imprisonment reduced to a 20-week suspended sentence, with three months on an electronic tag.
In the years prior to rekindling his friendship with Tom, Howarth was running groups on Facebook for Strictly, where he told members he was a successful BBC producer
In another post, Howarth told his followers that he had 'persuaded' the BBC to launch a spin-off show on BBC iPlayer
For Tom, the latest development is nothing short of 'very disappointing'.
He added: 'Matthew's not going to change. Prison might have changed him. At the very least it would have stopped him from being able to con people again, but now he's free and hasn't been banned from social media.
'These lies he comes up with are to make you feel empathy and to want to help him - and I did. I really felt sorry for him and thought if I can help a friend I will.
'But no mentally sane person would lie about the things he had lied to me about and I'm pretty sure he's aware of what he's doing.
'He'll do anything to get what he wants.'