Emese Fajk Emese Fajk portrayed
herself as a successful security specialist with throwaway money—enough
money to place a 4.5 million dollar bid on a home. However, when the show went to cash the check,
the truth was revealed: the money was never processed because the money
never existed. Fajk wasn't who she claimed to be. Instead, she was a serial con artist.
Fajk was the mysterious bidder who appeared on the grand finale of season 16 of The Block.
As she went against the show's alum bidder, Danny Wallis, she shocked audiences by placing
a record-high bid of $4.256 million. The winning couple, Jimmy and Tam,
were more than eager to cash in the $1.066 million prize. But they ran into a rather large hiccup.
The production team tried to cash in the check for the home that Fajk purchased
but never received the payment. When they went after Fajk, they discovered she was no longer
living in Australia and fled to Portugal. The production team was stumped with what to do
with the sudden plot twist. In a shocking turn of events, The Block realized Fajk conned them.
But the question remains, how did she get away with it?
The Block To understand
how Fajk pulled off the scam, you should understand how The Block
works. The Block is an Australian reality show competition that's been around since 2003.
The original concept for the show involved four couples who were experienced in renovating
apartments in the Sydney suburb of Bondi. The couples were given 12 weeks to renovate each
of their apartments with a $40,000 budget. The finished apartments would be sold at auction,
and the team who turned the most profit would win the competition. The winning prize was the profit
made from the auction and an extra cash bonus of $100,000. After two successful seasons, the show
faced a six-year hiatus before coming back in 2010. From there, the show went off the charts.
After becoming a huge success, the show started to air multiple times a week. By July 2019,
the sixteenth season was in development. Channel 9 and the production team of The Block purchased
a vacant strip of land in the exclusive bayside suburb of Brighton. With a new desirable location,
a new round of competitors was scouted from August 2019 to September 2019.
The season started to film in January 2020. Production came
to a screeching halt in March after the coronavirus pandemic swept the globe.
The show picked up filming again a month later in May 2020, but with a new world came a new set of
guidelines to follow. Executive Producer Julian Cress said The Block has implemented new safety
standards across the entire production. Now focused primarily on Covid concerns, the show
was vulnerable to people who may not appear as legitimate as they claim. People like Emese Fajk.
Bidding As Season 16 ended,
the houses went up for the usual auction, and the bidding commenced. Everything was panning out as
expected. Competitors Sarah and George saw high bids ranging from $3.32 to $3.36 million until
Mr. Wallis, the show's staple buyer, won the auction with his notorious bid of $4,000,001.
For the most part, the competition was close; Daniel and Jade were also receiving bids ranging
from $3.3 to 3.5 million. Competitors Harry and Tash also saw bids in the same range.
It was seemingly anyone's game until Jimmy and Tam's house went up for auction.
Danny Wallis is the experienced IT millionaire bidder known for
throwing random dollar and cent amounts to the end of multimillion-dollar bids.
Usually, the audience knew what to expect whenever he was on the screen. But, when
Jimmy and Tam's house went up for auction, no one could have predicted a twist was on the horizon.
The Hungarian-born Fajk was up against Wallis. She was labeled "mysterious
blonde" by host Shelley Craft for her shy demeanor and understated appearance.
Fajk was a cyber security specialist for Apple who appeared to be quite successful with the high
bids she tossed out. In a toe to toe battle, Fajk furthered her mysterious reputation by
diving into a bidding war against Wallis. He was waiting to drop his million-dollar move.
After Fajk bid $3.2 million, Wallis raised his bid to $4,200,001. The million-dollar jump didn’t
spook Fajk. Instead, she immediately countered his bid as the increments raised by $1000 to $13,000.
Rather than being fazed by the strange bids, Fajk added to her air of mystery by snickering and
chuckling at Wallis's bids before raising the bar. By the end of the auction,
Fajk was the victor. The house was sold to her for $4.256 million.
Jimmy and Tam were declared the winners after earning $966,000 on
the house alone, plus the added $100,000 bringing their grand prize to $1,066,000.
Jimmy and Tam were another success story and happy ending for The Block. Everything seemed
to be nirvana for all involved. But something more sinister lurked beneath the surface.
MIA Weeks after the finale,
Channel 9 was still waiting for the money from Fajk. After realizing the money was
never in the account, they knew something was amiss. They went looking for her to collect
the money she owed for the home, but the only thing they found on Fajk was a trail
of debt through multiple continents. This took Fajk's mysterious persona to a whole new level.
Jimmy and Tam were stumped. They even considered Fajk a friend after she bought their house.
The couple had her over to celebrate as they watched the grand finale when it aired on TV.
Tam recalls sharing wine and a moment with Fajk when they cried together after
the winner was revealed. Fajk even had the Wilkons fooled.
When Channel 9 eventually found a way to contact her, Fajk claimed she was the owner of the house,
and it was already paid… paid for by her. Fajk maintained her fight until February 18th,
a few days after she publicly renounced ownership of the house. Then, she left Australia.
She didn’t reappear until May, and she was almost unrecognizable with long blonde extensions. She
assumed a new identity with a name change to match her new look. She now goes by Abigel Fuchs.
So, where was she? The only place you can take the name "international conwoman" to
a whole new level—a tropical island near Portugal.
Fugitive's Paradise Fajk escaped to the island of Madeira
and took up an entirely new life. Madeira is a stunning island at the top of a gigantic shield
volcano with impeccable views. It’s a popular year-round resort with its selection of cultural
activities: from great food and wine and rich historical land wherever you look. Madeira is
beyond just a tourist destination but a whole rich experience. With unbeatable weather of
60-75 degrees year-round, it's understandable why someone would want to flee to this location.
Fajk has created an entirely new life for herself while living on the island.
She made herself comfortable by picking up hobbies such as deep-sea diving nearly every day.
While setting her life up in Madeira, Fajk even found the time for dating.
Swipe Right After a night
of swiping on Tinder, Fajk came across Steve Silva, a crypto trader. The two hit it off,
and they start dating. Silva was charmed by the woman who claimed to work for Apple and
the United Nations. She bragged about being a CEO and admitted to Silva that he was the first man
she dated that made more money than her. Silva noticed something was somewhat off with her but
forced down the gut feeling. The two dated for a brief period before the relationship
ended. Unfortunately, Silvia had loaned her a diving watch that she never returned.
Fajk told Silva that she was forced into isolation because her landlord tested
positive for COVID-19. Fajk told Silva she would go to the hospital for a test,
but he had a feeling she wasn't telling the truth. Believing his suspicion,
Silva went to the hospital and waited for Fajk to show up for hours, but she never did.
While he waited, he killed time by looking up the rental property where
Fajk was staying. He found a review for the place with a familiar picture of Fajk's face,
but he didn't recognize the name. When he dug deeper,
he discovered a disturbing truth lurking just beneath the surface of Fajk's web of lies.
More Scams The Block wasn’t the first Scam Silva dug up.
Fajk was quite familiar with using fake bank deposits to scam individuals. She was consistently
accused of sending counterfeit statements in her past. She used the same tactic for her Block scam.
Fajk duped The Block's executive producer Julian Cress by sending screenshots of the bank account
registered with ANZ, the Australian and New Zealand Banking Group. She used the screenshots
as proof that she paid the $426,500 deposit and the final settlement of $4,072,951 for the home.
After the money never arrived, Fajk blamed an unnamed lawyer,
claiming she didn't have sufficient time to finish the deal. But her scamming didn't
stop with the show. While in Madeira, Fajk scammed her landlord with the same trick!
The lies and deceit go so far that one could question if the landlord ever even had Covid.
When Australian media sources exposed Fajk's scandal with The Block, her past came back
to haunt her. An ex-boyfriend accused her of stealing 50,000 pounds from him
after receiving a payment slip stating she sent him the money. The money
never arrived, and after further analysis, an independent source proved the bank statement
was fake. A second accuser stepped forward, a Hungarian graphic designer who claimed
Fajk sent another fake ANZ statement to him for $1,000, which he never received.
With all the information he had on his former girlfriend,
Silva only had one thing on his mind. He had to get his watch back.
Confrontation Enraged by all the dirt
he found on his ex, Silva confronted Fajk through WhatsApp only to be blocked after warning her she
was in deep trouble. Realizing he was out of options, Silva went to the police and reported
his GoPro and diving watch stolen. When the police arrived at Fajk's door, Fajk texted her landlord,
telling him everything Silva said was a lie. But the only message she received back was "Scammer!"
Her Side To this day,
Fajk maintains innocence. In a video she posted to her Instagram,
Fajk provided her side of the story. She denied all allegations of scamming The Block's
producers and her landlord. She denied fleeing Australia to avoid her scandal. She even denied
having criminal investigations or any form of legal action against her. She claims that she
and Silva never dated, saying he was never her boyfriend and couldn't take no for an answer.
She blamed the show about the house, stating she received all the formalities too late. By
the time the settlement came around, she didn't have enough time to get all her money together.
Fajk doesn't believe she "fled'' anything. She says she left Australia
to work out her next steps, which sounds like fleeing to us. Today,
Fajk still goes by Abigel Fuchs and continues her life in Madeira,
avoiding her alleged crimes. Hopefully, her new life leaves her scamming past behind her.
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And let us know in the comment section if you could pick to be on any reality show,
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