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The Mother Of All Cons

(37 Posts)
Sarnia Sun 31-May-26 22:40:57

A 3 part true story on a mother and daughter who were the founders of the charity, Believe In Magic. I won't say anything else to spoilt it should you want to watch it but it had me gripped.

keepingquiet Sun 31-May-26 22:57:50

I listened to a podcast on this story years ago but will be checking this out too for an update...

NotAGran55 Mon 01-Jun-26 04:06:06

I also listened to the podcast and was horrified. I’ll definitely watch it.

notgran Mon 01-Jun-26 05:40:03

I watched this yesterday and was a bit ashamed I had no knowledge of all this. The tenacity of the 2 parents who did their own investigation was admirable. I stopped a few years ago giving to charities of which I know little of their "workings" and now only give to ones I am 100% sure of where the money goes. Highly recommend watching this programme

Chocolatelovinggran Mon 01-Jun-26 06:45:39

A very well made programme about a shocking con. The persistence of the parents in pursuing the perpetrators whilst caring for a child who had come through years of gruelling treatment, in one family, and grieving over the death of a child in the other, was amazing.

ferry23 Mon 01-Jun-26 06:46:32

I hadn't planned to watch all 3 episodes last night - but I did!

So unbelievably believable. Or the other way round.

Definitely worth a watch.

She777 Tue 02-Jun-26 14:07:47

This was a really gripping documentary. I really have some suspicions about the daughter’s death though. It was very shocking.

REKA Tue 02-Jun-26 14:20:33

We watched it all in one go. Couldn't believe it! How outrageous of the mother to carry on in such a manner. Great viewing!

Sago Tue 02-Jun-26 14:44:24

I listened to the podcast some years ago.

The documentary has much more info, the story of the Atlantic flight for example, they had no shame!

The mother should be behind bars.

YorkLady Tue 02-Jun-26 14:47:59

I watched all of this last night too.
I was left with so many unanswered questions. How on earth is Jean still free???
Were funds ever recovered and did they know where all the money had gone?
The two parents who started to investigate this fraud were put through hell. They are very strong people indeed

Fara56 Tue 02-Jun-26 15:26:14

20 mins left of last episode. Gripping but still some unanswered questions. Where did they get the morphine and meds from? An article I read online alleged the daughter had an opioid problem - not unsurprising really, but what, if any, medical people were involved with her????

REKA Tue 02-Jun-26 15:28:49

I think you'll see how they managed to get the medication in the last 20 minutes!

MT62 Tue 02-Jun-26 16:47:56

What channel please? 🙏

YorkLady Tue 02-Jun-26 16:51:59

It’s on BBC IPlayer

StoneofDestiny Tue 02-Jun-26 22:28:09

just watched this. wow - hadn’t heard of the charity or the scandal. Amazed the mother hadn’t been arrested. The boy who was meghan’s friend seems very odd - still believing the criticisms are unfounded for the most part.
Seriously impressed by the man and woman who brought it all to light - so determined and a very intelligent way they pushed on despite (or maybe because) of their own loss and sense of justice. Amazing people.

Rocketstop2 Wed 03-Jun-26 12:10:34

Have just the last 20 mins or so to watch. What a sad story and quite astounding. really worth watching, it will make your mouth fall open .

Eloethan Wed 03-Jun-26 19:56:51

It really was shocking that so many people had been taken in by this woman (I think her daughter had been infantilised by her mother and was completely controlled by her). It was also terrible that her mother used her daughter's condition to so that she could be chums with famous people and live a life of luxury. I too think it was odd the way the daughter died - and I too wondered about the boy who was supposedly a friend of Meg's.

What really worried me was, at the end it was said that she was living in, I think, France and was an "influencer" working to champion older people. That sounded very dodgy to me.

Franski Wed 03-Jun-26 21:45:31

I binge watched all.three last night...I wanted to know what happened in the end! honestly it could have all been fitted into one episode though..i didn't appreciate the dragging out of everything for dramatic effect. Unanswered questions for me too.... the morphine...harrods pharmacy..how bizarre? And nobody was questioned /arrested? What about the charity commission...surely they must have been on this earlier on? And Nina the daughter...I wonder what the other three siblings have to say on this. Finally what about Meg's father, the indian 19 yr old neighbour..where was he in all this?
Bizarre story for sure.

Chocolatelovinggran Thu 04-Jun-26 07:11:16

In a newspaper article which I read recently, Nina refers to an illness suffered by another sibling, which she wondered might have been exacerbated by the mother.

MollyNew Fri 05-Jun-26 15:23:04

We watched all 3 episodes today. Truth really is stranger than fiction sometimes. Megan's male friend seems to be totally under Jean's spell even now. I hope the people who sent nasty messages to the ones who sussed it out (Nick and Joanna?) are ashamed of themselves.

There are definite parallels between this story and cases of domestic abuse with the mind games, manipulation and control.

travelsafar Fri 05-Jun-26 17:31:16

I was gripped by this. How could this even happen???

Kells9278 Sat 06-Jun-26 02:23:46

“I’m not questioning the documentary’s conclusion that Megan did not have the terminal brain tumour people were told she had. What I can’t reconcile is the footage and witness accounts of adult hospital admissions where friends describe visiting her and seeing tubing coming from her head. Did the medical records ever explain what procedure this was, or why she was receiving that treatment

Foxyferret Sat 06-Jun-26 14:36:56

I was very interested in this. What happened to the awful Jean, did they ever find her and was she arrested?

Nurseundercover Sat 06-Jun-26 14:57:30

This was astounding as it appears there were so many red flags that could have been picked up by authorities. School attendance, GP with frequent attendances and as prescriber, and pharmacist. Because this technically was an unexpected death why wasn’t that investigated. Who signed the death certificate? Cremation form needs 2 signatories. Why was the charity commission so slow to react. Awful and this could all happen again. Well done to the programme makers and it goes to show trust your suspicions and intuition.

Cossy Sat 06-Jun-26 15:22:07

Ooh thank you, was looking for something new to watch!