A British expat accused of a long-running property scam is on the run from Spanish police.
Rebecca Wells, 37 – who also goes by the name of Rebecca Prior – has left her home in the Costa del Sol after other angry British expats complained to police about her.
They allege she rents holiday homes for a few days and shows expats around with a view to taking the property on a long-term let.
Wells then demands a deposit and disappears, leaving the expat out-of-pocket and without a home.
Her alleged victims are suspected to have lost deposits running into tens of thousands of euros.
Duped expats
Wells, who has two children, is believed to come from Wolverhampton, in the West Midlands, and may have returned to the area.
Four British expats have made statements to the Spanish police and she has been linked to similar alleged frauds in the country over the past eight years.
Duped expats have started a Facebook campaign to warn other home hunters about Wells and the news is spreading across expat web sites online.
Several victims have come forward all claiming Wells posed as a letting agent or home owner and showed them around properties which later transpired not to be available for rent.
One alleged victim, Raymond Paul, explained he lost a 1,000 euro deposit to Wells after she showed him around a holiday home and agreed an 11 month let.
“Unfortunately, she had let the home for four days but claimed she was the owner and agreed the contract, so I paid the deposit,” he said.
Disappeared
Mr Paul left some belongings at the property and arranged to move in within a few days.
When he returned to the home, someone else was living there.
A meeting was arranged with Wells to sort the matter out, but she failed to show up and none of her disgruntled customers have been able to get in touch with her since.
Even a friend of Wells was sucked into the alleged fraud.
Wells showed expat Helle Munksgaard around a property and took a deposit before disappearing. The pair had been friends for 14 years. Munksgaard has also made a statement to police about the matter.
Mobile phone numbers given to Paul and Munksgaard are no longer answered.
Wells is believed to be travelling with a Spanish boyfriend, whose name and contact details are not known.