Fugitive British love fraudster arrested near Zurich
Swiss police say they have arrested a fugitive British man who allegedly swindled a woman out of more than £850,000 (CHF1 million) following an international manhunt.
The Federal Office of Police and the Zurich cantonal police confirmed that the 45-year-old suspect, one of Britain’s most wanted fugitives, was apprehended in an apartment near Lake Zurich, and has been in detention since last Saturday pending his extradition.
He reportedly lived under a false name in Spain and later in Switzerland.
The man, who was on the run for two years, posed as a secret service agent and a banker in a romance scam with a 61-year-old woman in Britain, and will face criminal proceedings for 20 fraud offences when he goes before a British court.
The Swiss authorities say the arrest of is a good example of police cooperation at a national and international level.
A European arrest warrant was issued for Mark Acklom in June 2016, and he was believed to be at large in Spain, having been released from a Spanish prison over a £200,000 property fraud.
In May last year he was spotted in Geneva, where he was believed to have been with his family.
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