Mark Acklom has been accused of posing as a British intelligence agent and a banker to trick Carolyn Woods into lending him more than $1.1 million of her life savings during a romance that last one year. He then used the money to renovate several properties in western England before disappearing in 2012. For six years, he has been one of Britain’s most-wanted criminals, leading officials on a cross-Europe manhunt that took advantage of the continent’s lack of border checkpoints. He was finally arrested last weekend after being tracked to a luxury apartment in Zurich, where he was using a false name. He will not be extradited to Britain.
His alleged victim, Woods, will potentially see some of her savings returned, but the loss will probably continue to have a lasting impact on the 61-year-old. She told Britain’s ITV two years ago, “The only reason I’m still here is because of my daughters.”
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