Nicola Flint is accused of forging medical letters and defrauding a rugby club of more than $100,000.
Anna Leask,
senior crime journalist with the Herald and host of A Moment in Crime, has been diving into this case with a special two-part series on Flint’s diagnosis deception.
She told The Front Page that Flint had begun telling friends she had found a lump in her breast, she’d had it tested, and it was cancer.
“Then, over the next seven years, that lie grew, and grew, and grew.
“Everyone believed that she had stage four terminal cancer and that she was about to leave two children without a mum. They were helping her plan her funeral, where her ashes would be scattered, and planning how they would help look after her kids.
“She was telling different friends different things about her treatment. She had different explanations for why she wasn’t having chemo. These were her best friends, and nobody really thought to question her on it.
“We now know, and the police have said very openly, that there is no evidence Nicola Flint has ever been diagnosed with cancer.”
In 2024, Flint’s web of lies began to unravel.
“She was investigated for a lot of money going missing from a football club where she was working. She was saying to friends, it’s not what it looks like, I’m innocent. But at the same time, she fled the country. She went to the UK.
“Then, a friend found some letters that Nicola had given her from a cancer specialist ... She was reading through this letter, and thought ‘I don’t think this is real.’”
Read Anna Leask’s full story about Nicola Flint’s cancer con.
Listen to the full episode to hear more about:
- How Flint deceived friends
- Allegations and charges
- Impact on friends and family
- Where in the world is Nicola Flint?
The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am. The podcast is presented by Chelsea Daniels, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in world news and crime/justice reporting who joined NZME in 2016.
You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
