Meet Megan Clarke: Woman scammed, manipulated & defrauded by love cheat Robert Madejski aka Lord Bertie Underwood
MEGAN Clarke thought she found her Prince Charming when she met Lord Bertie Underwood.
But just months before their wedding, Megan uncovered a shocking truth — her dream man was a scammer, leaving her heartbroken and £30,000 in debt.
Megan Clarke is a woman who bravely shared her personal story of falling victim to a romance scam in a Channel 4 series called Love Cheats.
At the age of 20, Megan entered into what seemed like a fairytale romance with a man named Lord Bertie Underwood.
Meeting Lord Bertie Underwood
She met Lord Bertie Underwood in 2017 on the Isle of Wight while working as a bar manager.
It was a midweek evening during the summer when Bertie walked into her bar.
Megan noticed him immediately because he stood out — he was tall, dark, handsome, well-dressed, and very polite.
He introduced himself as Bertie Underwood and claimed to be a horologist, who had recently moved to the island from the mainland.
A horologist is someone who designs and repairs watches.
Their connection was instant, and just days after meeting, Bertie sent a huge bouquet of flowers to Megan’s workplace, along with a note inviting her on a date.
She said in the show: “Within days he’d sent a huge bunch of flowers to my work.
“There was a note saying ‘it was lovely to meet you, be ready for 7pm tonight, I’m taking you on a date’.
“It definitely felt like what they do in the movies.
“There’s not that many ‘gentlemen’ out there who’d send flowers, just to ask you on a date.”
Taking her on dates
After their first few dates, Megan’s romance with Lord Bertie Underwood quickly intensified.
Their first date was luxurious, with a fancy dinner at an upscale restaurant where they shared champagne and a three-course meal.
During these early dates, Bertie revealed he was a lord, openly discussing his supposed aristocratic background, even claiming that his great-great-grandfather had invented the Underwood typewriter, which he said was the source of his family’s wealth.
Within a month of dating, they had both said “I love you”.
Proposal
Bertie also bought Megan expensive gifts, including a car and a puppy.
A few months into their relationship, Megan moved into Bertie’s beautiful three-story house with a sea view, which he claimed he had bought at auction.
Six months after they started dating, Bertie proposed to Megan with what appeared to be a five-carat Cartier diamond ring on Christmas.
Suspicious activities
Megan began to notice signs that something was wrong about a year into her relationship with him, just two months before their planned wedding.
There were small warning signs during the relationship like Bertie insisting on not posting him on social media because of his father’s high-ranking job in the navy.
However, things started to seem suspicious when Megan noticed a lot of letters arriving at their home with names she didn’t recognise.
Her suspicions grew, and she decided to investigate further.
One day, she searched his office and found multiple bank cards with various names, none of which were Bertie Underwood.
When she confronted him about the discovery, she said Bertie became “very defensive and irate”.
She started to search online for the names on the bank cards.
Megan then found his face and aliases appeared in multiple news articles, linking him to a long history of fraud.
His real name was not Bertie Underwood, and he had been using several aliases, including Robert Doughty and Robert Soanes-Madejski.
He had a criminal record for various scams, including trying to con someone out of a Bentley in 2012.
Tricking Megan
After Megan found out who he was, he left her.
He secretly took out credit cards and loans in her name, ultimately leaving her with £30,000 in debt.
Megan went to the police after letters arrived with credit card bills in her name.
She said: “We went to the police and action fraud [but] unfortunately there wasn’t a great deal they could do.”
Since then, Megan has worked hard to rebuild her life after the traumatic experience with Lord Bertie.
She has started her own successful photography business and now owns her own home.
Megan has managed to pay off most of the debt and is continuing to move forward, although she is still making payments on some outstanding bills.
And Lord Bertie Underwood was eventually arrested.
He was convicted for unrelated fraud charges involving another victim and sentenced to five years in prison.
However, despite being imprisoned, Bertie managed to escape from prison in May 2022 and is still on the run.