Farah Damji's infamous reputation as a con artist stretches back so long, it is difficult to know where to start.

Over a decade ago she was exposed in Manhattan, New York, as a major fraudster. In the mid-1990s she made her name first as a Manhattan art dealer.

But the police eventually caught up with her long litany of crimes and she was banged up in Rikers Island prison for 121 days.

Two years ago, the New York Post said of her past: "Damji - who has several aliases - falsified documents, forged checks, ripped off artists, stole from associates and terrorized ex-boyfriends."

"She was finally indicted for padding a certified check with extra zeroes and forging a court document ordering the release of her possessions, which had been seized. Her antics continued post-release with a similar spree in East Hampton. After her arrest at the opening of a gallery she'd rented with a fraudulent lease, she disappeared - until now."

That 'now' referred to late 2003, when the Daily Mail published a long account of Damji having affairs with two well known media industry personalities.

Soon after the Mail on Sunday followed with a scathing piece detailing her previous reputation. It said: "Her lies and deceit have left a trail of debts that stretches as far as South Africa, from where she was deported. There is also an outstanding warrant for her arrest in East Hampton."

It added: "She owns and edits Indobrit, an upmarket lifestyle magazine-for British Asians. But in reality she is a cunning and calculated adventuress who lies with the ease of a snake-oil salesman."

AIM covered the controversy then and Damji said the Mail had printed something she did not say.

But the convicted fraudster had already started her crime spree in England the previous year.

In October 2002 she stole her nanny Milla Salminen's credit card and ran up a bill of £3,903 with 61 purchases, including a stay at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Birmingham.

In October 2004, while on bail, she did the same with marketing assistant Darshika Mahavir. Mahavir had come to her house after being invited for a sales pitch, but found her credit card was stolen by Damji to buy clothing worth £1,030 from Harvey Nichols. Damji was arrested but again released on bail.

The following month she stole a credit card from Rakhee Gokani, who was organising a magazine photo shoot for Another Generation's front cover. Her card was used 34 times for purchases amounting to £2,639.

During one of her shopping sprees, she bought a laptop from Dixons in Hammersmith. In December she went back to the store to report a fault on the laptop but staff contacted police and arrested her. When questioned she said she was collecting "air points".

In January Damji telephoned jewellers Boodle and Dunthorne to ask if she could have the use of two diamond and platinum rings worth £10,550. She pretended to be working for Kiki King, showbusiness correspondent for the Daily Mail at the time. The rings were never recovered.

In February 2005, due to face trial, she engaged in a series of attempts to pevert the course of justice. This included pretending to be from the Home Office and trying to persuade the prosecution that the case was against the public interest.

She failed to attend a pre-trial hearing in April, going on the run for nearly a month before the police caught up with her in May,

During that time, she stole freelance journalist Ambarina Hasan's credit card. That was used to open a savings account in Ambarina's name and obtain a £18,000 loan from Sainsbury’s. She also stole two credit cards and a driving licence from a friend, Nazia Soonsara, to try to steal her identity.

Damji was arrested on May 14 after tracker dogs found her hiding in her garden in Hampshire, although at first she pretended that she was Ms Hasan.