Where alleged Block conwoman Emese Fajk is now

Last year, The Block was rocked by its biggest scandal to date, when the buyer of one of the homes failed to pay up - here’s what happened next.

We’re hours away from the 2021 Block winner being crowned.

But while the lead-up to the finale has been littered with drama, it’s still no match for last year’s wild auction day result that read like the script of a Hollywood action flick.

In one of the most elaborate reality television scandals of recent history, mysterious bidder Emese Fajk, 28, surprised viewers and Blockheads alike when she outbid serial Block buyer Danny Wallis to score Jimmy and Tam’s Palm Springs style Brighton home for a record price of $4.256m. The figure was $966,000 above the $3.29m reserve, leaving Jimmy and Tam with $1.066m in prize money.

But weeks later, when the money failed to appear in Nine’s accounts, it was discovered Fajk was not who she claimed to be, and had attempted to cheat one of Australia’s most popular TV programs with false ANZ bank slips.

“It’s something no one ever saw coming, no one ever expected, but it’s something we now have to deal with,” Jimmy later told A Current Affair of the stunning revelation.

“We’ve pretty much been conned.”

“She came to our house to watch the final episode with us, she cracked a bottle of wine out of the wine fridge,” wife Tam added.

“She actually cried with us when the result came over, it was like we knew her as a friend.”

Tam said Emese acted ‘like a friend’ when they watched the finale together last year. Picture: Channel 9.

Fajk — who claimed to be a former cyber security specialist for Apple — was tracked by the program across multiple continents, where it appeared she’d left a trail of debt.

When contacted by Channel 9, she maintained she’d paid for the property and still wanted to own it.

So what happened to the alleged international conwoman?

On February 18 – just days after publicly announcing she was ‘giving up’ on The Block house – Fajk left Australia for Europe, the Daily Mail reported.

According to a report by the publication in April, Fajk was pictured hiding out in disguise at an island paradise off the coast of Portugal, having assumed the name Abigél Fuchs.

Sporting long blonde hair extensions, Fajk had reportedly embraced a quiet coastal lifestyle.

But the report also claimed Fajk was up to her old ways while setting up her new life in Madeira.

Emese Fajk outbid serial Block buyer Danny Wallis on auction day last year. Picture: Channel 9.

Cryptocurrency trader’s wild claim

Speaking to the Daily Mail, a man claiming to have met Fajk on Tinder, Steve Silva, revealed the Block bidder had been accused of sending her Portuguese landlord fake ‘proof of payment’ screenshots.

The publication also spoke to the rental owner, who chose to remain anonymous, confirming the alleged con.

According to Silva, he realised all was not as it seemed when Fajk claimed that she’d gone into isolation because her landlord had registered a positive Covid test.

In WhatsApp messages, Fajk claimed she was going to the hospital to get tested. But when Silva waited for Fajk to turn up at the hospital, she never showed.

Emails obtained by the publication also see the accused Block scammer explaining that she had to leave Australia “because it got to the point where I just couldn’t exist there anymore.”

“Yes, you’re right, I’m hiding. Not from the law … If I was in trouble with the law, I wouldn’t have been able to leave (Australia). I’m hiding from my problems and my life,” she had written.

Her apartment’s owner went on to tell the publication that Fajk sent him a screengrab showing an alleged $4,215 ANZ Bank transfer for her rent payment.

He said the money never arrived, and all he had received was 200 Euro in cash.

Inside Jimmy and Tam’s winning build.

The duo’s Palm Springs-inspired design aesthetic was praised throughout the season.

Fajk’s past of allegedly scamming lovers

When The Block scandal first began to unravel, a former partner of Fajk reached out to A Current Affair after discovering she had made the winning bid, claiming he had been duped by the woman of mystery as well.

“She has stolen money from people like myself (£15,000) and many others. When I met her she was pretending to be a cyber security expert and working for the United Nations,” the ex-partner, who wished to remain anonymous, said.

The man provided a series of text and WhatsApp conversations where he’s seen requesting money back from his former partner.

“I will have your money, all of it, in cash, (sic) on Monday at 12,” Fajk had written.

The ex said Ms Fajk presented him with a bank statement which she had appeared to transfer £50,000 (A$88,000), but the money never arrived.

Jimmy and Tam’s house finally sells

The Block’s executive Julian Cress confirmed that the house was relisted for sale in late December 2020. It sold in June this year, with host Scott Cam overjoyed by the result.

“We’re really excited it’s sold,” he told 9Entertainment.

“It’s gone on to a new young family, which is what we’re all about on The Block, building family homes for the next generation. Especially those old homes that we trucked in, you know they’ve been lived in for years, and now they’re going to hopefully be lived in for another 100 more,” he said.

It comes after Nine honoured both the money the couple won above reserve price for the sale on the day and the $100,000 in prize money.

Originally published as Where alleged Block conwoman Emese Fajk is now