ARCHIVED - 49-year-old fraudster arrested for scamming foreigners with luxury property deals on the Costa Blanca

The Slovakian man was detained in Calpe, Alicante province, following a three-year hunt to find him

Police have finally caught up with a 49-year-old "white collar" thief who conned foreigners out of hundreds of thousands of euros with fake luxury villa property deals on the Costa Blanca.

The Slovakian national was detained in Calpe in the Marina Alta area of Alicante province following a three-year search to find him.

According to police sources, the con artist who made "large amounts" of money by scamming overseas buyers, was fluent in six languages and had good people skills which he used to gain the trust of his unsuspecting victims.

The fraudster was this week remanded in prison by a Denia court charged with fraud and misappropriation. It was heard he had a total of six arrest warrants out against him across the country.

The Guardia Civil eventually caught up with the detainee after he witnessed a street crime in Calpe in September 2019.

Rather than helping the female victim, he fled the scene, and so began a three-year investigation, 'Operation Kerma', to trace him.

The woman was able to give a description and other helpful facts, and despite no address or other leads appearing on any database, police eventually mananged to track the Slovakian to a property in Calpe.

He was arrested on September 25 near his home.

In other news: Body of elderly British hoarder found at her Torrevieja home on the Costa Blanca

Image: Guardia Civil