DANI Dyer’s boyfriend Sammy Kimmence was jailed after defrauding two OAPs of £34,000 – but she’s not the only Love Island star with a criminal connection.
Kimmence, 25, of Rayleigh, Essex, duped the elderly men into investing money that he then used to fund his lavish lifestyle, holidays and meals.
He broke down in tears after being sentenced to three-and-a-half years following a last-minute plea change that saw him admit five counts of fraud.
Today, friends of Dani, 24, told the Daily Mail she will dump Kimmence – who is the father of their seven-month-old son Santiago – over the scandal.
The reality TV star, who is the daughter of EastEnders’ actor Danny Dyer, has not responded to the claims.
Dani appeared on Love Island three years ago and isn’t the first contestant to be linked to criminal activity.
Gangster’s coke empire
Love Island’s Jack Fincham won Dani’s heart and the £50,000 prize money in 2018 but behind his smile was a difficult personal battle.
The pen salesman’s father, Mark Gard, was a renowned gangster and was imprisoned during his teen years for running a nationwide cocaine empire.
The TV hunk distanced himself from the con – who was sentenced to four years in prison – after his parents split up in the 2000s.
A friend previously told HOAR: “People who know Mark know he’s a bit of a wrong ’un, but for Jack, the whole thing has been hugely upsetting.
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“He told his family he wanted nothing to do with his father.”
The source claimed the Gard’s prison sentence “was very much the last straw” for Jack and “winning Love Island doesn’t erase that hurt”.
In 2009, Gard was caught subletting a council home in Greenwich, London, despite owning properties in Spain.
Fraud investigators alerted police to his mysterious wealth and later he was found to have been distributing Class A drugs.
Gard used a parcel-delivery service to send illegal drugs, including cocaine, via mail across the country.
When police raided his home, they discovered £100,000 stashed in a suitcase and 4lb of cocaine and 0.5lb of cannabis resin worth £25,000 in a courier van outside.
Gard pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply drugs and benefit fraud in 2009 and was ordered to pay £274,000 or face five more years in prison.
To avoid a stiffer sentence, he paid the fine and was believed to have left prison between 2012 and 2013.
Jack, who was raised by mum Samantha, did not keep in touch with Gard according to friends and uses his mother’s last name – Fincham.
£5.2M drugs gang
Jamie Jewitt and Camilla Thurlow are one of the success stories of Love Island after appearing in 2017 and now have a baby daughter named Nell.
The former villa hunk, who admitted he put on four stone since leaving the show, was recently pictured with his jailbird brother Luke Jewitt.
The sibling was one of eight people jailed in a £5.2million drug gang bust by police and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Luke, who was convicted for conspiring to supply 3kg of cocaine, was released after serving half his sentence.
Brother Jamie said he could “never defend” the actions of his brother “nor will our family”.
“It tore us apart emotionally and it was horrific,” he added.
Luke’s crimes weren’t the only things to cause a stir after he hit the headlines for being allowed to visit a luxury spa on day release from prison.
Tales about the international drugs ring – which Luke worked for – were adapted into the 2019 film The Corrupted, which starred Timothy Spall and Hugh Bonneville.
Covid breach
Zara Holland, who appeared on Love Island in 2016, was fined £4,500 after breaching coronavirus quarantine rules last year.
The reality star and her boyfriend Elliott Love were on a luxury Barbados holiday when they were arrested by Caribbean police.
It followed the couple’s attempt to flee the country after Elliott tested positive for coronavirus after entering the country.
They were instructed to stay in their hotel room until officials could move them from their hotel into a quarantine bay at Paragon Military Base.
‘Booked a flight & fled’
But Zara and Elliott ripped off bands that identified them as potential carriers of the virus, booked a flight out of the country and raced to the airport in a taxi.
They were apprehended by police and faced criminal charges including endangering the lives of others.
The crimes carried a maximum fine of up to £18,000 for each person and one year in prison.
After being a quarter of that full fine, Zara kept a low profile until last month when she posted snaps of herself in a bikini.
The reality star famously had her 2015 Miss Great Britain title stripped from her after ITV aired footage of her steamy antics with co-star Alex Bowan.
Credit card fraud
The mother of 2019 Love Island star Anton Danyluk revealed her criminal past earlier this year on the podcast What’s The Crack?
Sherie Ann Danyluk, who shot to fame after revealing she shaved her son’s bum, was involved in dodgy credit card dealings.
She claimed a friend convinced her to take part in the plot where they used different credit cards to buy items before selling them on.
Sherie said: “I was walking about for weeks with the best of clothes on, jewellery and gold chains. I thought I was the business.
“Then one day I’m sitting in the bath and then I hear my door getting kicked down and it was the police.”
‘Live Aid’ caught me out
Sherie was caught by police after donating around “ten grand” to Bob Geldof’s Live Aid while watching the show.
She said: “So I had about ten credit cards in my purse so I started donating the money to charity to all these kids.
“Tears were rolling down my face [watching] these kids without water.
“I was only about 20. Every night I used to do this because you only had a limit of about £50 to £100 on each card.”
Police were able to track her down when they linked her phone number to expenditure on the “missing” cards.
Sherie Ann did not reveal whether she was charged or faced any punishment for her crimes.
She admitted to not know what she was doing during the scam and was “so stupid” that she used to “take out all the cards” with her on an evening.
Being apprehended by police was a “complete fright” for Sherie Ann, who felt “so ashamed” that she swore off crime for good.
