‘MI6 con man’ arrested in luxury Swiss flat
AN ALLEGED con man who is said to have posed as an MI6 agent has been found living in a Swiss flat with his wife and two children.
Mark Acklom, one of Britain’s most wanted men, has been arrested in an opulent flat in Switzerland after more than two years of being sought by police across Europe.
Acklom, 45, allegedly tricked Carolyn Woods out of £850,000 in life savings after posing as an MI6 agent in a romantic scam that began in 2012.
He is said to have promised to marry the mother of two, who said she was caught up in a “whirlwind of excitement” during a year-long relationship. But he is suspected of vanishing with the money before they could walk down the aisle, leaving Ms Woods emotionally and financially ruined.
A European Arrest Warrant was issued for Mr Acklom in June 2016 and he was believed to be at large in Spain.
In May 2017 he was spotted in Geneva and was arrested after an intelligence-led operation involving the National Crime Agency (NCA), Avon and Somerset Constabulary and the Swiss authorities.
Currently in custody awaiting extradition, Acklom faces criminal proceedings for a total of 20 fraud offences in the British courts.
Ian Cruxton, the head of international operations for the NCA, said: “We are committed to protecting UK citizens from criminals who seek to exploit them and, likewise, we are equally committed to protecting citizens in other countries.”
Mr Acklom was living in a flat in Zurich with his wife and two children.
In October, Avon and Somerset police put out an appeal over the whereabouts of his wife, Maria Yolanda Ros Rodriguez, and their two daughters.
Ms Woods met Mr Acklom when he came into her boutique to buy a jacket. She said they began a relationship within days and moved in together, although Ms Woods said she later discovered he had a second home nearby with his wife and children.
In 2016, Ms Woods, 61, of Bath, Somerset, said “he left me destitute and destroyed my life”.
She added: “I felt as though I had fallen in love. He told me he had never felt this way about anyone and we must get married. I’ve still got the wedding dress I never wore. It was all a charade. At the time I actually wished he had killed me. I was suicidal.”