‘Most wanted’ British swindler arrested in Pampanga

Bureau of Immigration (BI) agents have arrested in Pampanga a man who is said to be one of the most wanted swindlers in the United Kingdom.

Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente said Adam James Stagg was arrested last Friday at his home along Yellow Papua St., Don Bosco Compound, Mabalacat City.

The 30-year-old Briton is facing a fraud case in the UK.

“Like all other foreign fugitives that we have arrested, this Briton will be expelled and sent back to his country to stand trial for his crimes,” said Morente, who ordered Stagg’s arrest at the request of the British embassy.

The BI said British authorities have long suspected that Stagg had been living a luxurious lifestyle in the Philippines after engaging in the fraudulent online sale of watches from October 2013 to June 2014.

Stagg is said to have profited by as much as £20,000 from the racket wherein victims were duped into paying for designer watches they never received.

Police alleged that Stagg had set up a number of companies in the Philippines that sold watches to UK customers at prices that cost more than £100 each.

The victims, numbering at least 140, paid money into various bank accounts allegedly belonging to Stagg’s associates who then sent the money to him in the Philippines.

None of his victims, however, ever received a watch and some even reported to police that they were threatened when they tried to find out why they did not get what they bought. —ALG, GMA News