BEHIND the fraud charges Claire Hilsdon admitted last week are dozens of people whose lives have been devastated by her lies.

Read the full charges here

Nina Musgrave says she is still owed £14,000 for marketing work she did for Hilsdon between February and October 2015.

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She initially met Hilsdon in 2011, when she ran Bottle PR in Oxford, to discuss working with the company but nothing came of it.

She didn't hear anything more until she got a message from her in December 2014 about a new idea for a localised Groupon-type service called What's Ticking Today.

Oxford Mail:

Nina Musgrave

Little did Mrs Musgrave know but by the end of February Hilsdon had been declared bankrupt and the full promised money for her work would never appear, with creditors still needing to be paid over her failed American diners Chariots and Cherry Pie.

The 56-year-old, who lives in a village near Banbury, was left having to work 24/7 just to keep her own business going.

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She said: "The first alarm bells started ringing when she said she was expecting a divorce settlement from her ex-husband to pay for the first four months of work. Then in mid-May she said it had been delayed until October."

Mrs Musgrave, who was eventually paid £6,000 by Hilsdon over the course of a year from May 2018, said she believes Hilsdon deliberately targets freelancers and smaller businesses as she thinks they are less likely to take legal action.

She added: "I've never met anyone who just lies so much and pretends she's something she's not.

"I honestly think she thinks she's some jet-setting entrepreneur and will be the next Richard Branson."

Oxford Mail:

Naomi Perkins

For Naomi Perkins, who was also involved with What's Ticking Today, the consequences were even more severe.

She ran a small telemarketing business to help fund Naomi's Cafe Bar, which she had opened in Banbury.

The 34-year-old eventually had to close both after failing to be paid more than £13,500 for her and five members of staff's work.

She said: "The hardest part was those I employed, people depending on me to pay wages."

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"You get so far in and you're involved already... I wasted so many resources. There was a lot of psychological manipulation."

Ms Perkins said Hilsdon's actions had a massive impact on her mental health, and in 2017 she was hospitalised and eventually took 18 months off work.

She said: "I'm so grateful for the people who have worked so hard to bring a resolution to this."

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One woman, who is also owed thousands due to unpaid work, however, is not convinced even these convictions will stop Hilsdon.

She said: "She's a professional fraudster with a set formula. She pays you just enough at the start to make you think it's ok and then keeps going with excuses until you can't go on anymore."

She added: "The sad thing is she could have done really well. She's charismatic and has a huge ability to sell.

"She could have earned so much more than she conned from people."

Oxford Mail:

Claire Hilsdon, under the name Clara Florey, at AIM summit in Dubai in 2018. Picture screenshot from Youtube

Another woman, who also wanted to remain anonymous, said she worked for Hilsdon at Dispruptive PR in London.

She said: "At the start I thought she had really opened up to me. I trusted her but the inconsistencies in her stories got harder to ignore. I left because I just wasn't getting paid."

She added: "At the time I was very upset and angry but looking back I'm happy if it had to happen it was early in my career. Many people have had it so much worse."

There are also a slew of angry comments about Dispruptive PR on review website P*ssed Consumer, with 'Clara Florey' mentioned frequently.

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Accusations include someone in July claiming they are still trying to get a refund of more than £5,000 paid two years ago as advance payments.

Another was titled 'Clara Florey is a scam artist' and said: "She can be very charming, but her charm veils the truth. She does not pay her employees and does not deliver to clients."

Of 18 reviews, 16 of them were one star, with story after story of initially promising contact with Hilsdon giving way to excuses and stalling when it came to payment or supplying services.

One reviewer summed it up as: "This lady lies. Pure and simple."