Britain's most notorious conman is about to be released from prison early
August 12, 2021, 8:45 am

Britain's most notorious conman is about to be released from prison early

Mark Acklom

According to the Sky News, Britain's most notorious conman is about to be freed early from prison, but will have to live under tough restrictions.

Serial fraudster Mark Acklom must declare his earnings, business dealings and assets, close any foreign bank accounts, stop using false names and tell police of his movements.

The curbs on his freedom come in a rare Serious Crime Prevention Order that will last for five years. If he flouts any of the restrictions, he risks another five years in jail.

The Sky News reported Acklom's freedom may be postponed anyway as Spanish authorities launch a bid to extradite him for an unfinished jail sentence he fled from in 2016.

When he is released on licence from his UK sentence in a fortnight, the 48-year-old will have served barely a third of the five years and eight months he got for duping a woman out of all her money after promising to marry her.

He used an alias and posed as an MI6 agent and millionaire banker as he wooed Gloucestershire divorcee Carolyn Woods before isolating her from her family and friends, stealing £300,000 and leaving her heartbroken, destitute and suicidal.

At the time, he was married with two young children and living with his family a few miles away - telling Ms Woods he was flying to see her from his home in Switzerland.

Ms Woods, who has given up hope of getting back any of the money Acklom stole, said: "He always does what is best for him. I don't think having a Serious Crime Prevention Order in his name is really going to affect what he does, unless he is physically tagged or something like that."

Acklom vanished with Ms Woods' money in 2013 and fled abroad, first to Spain, then Italy, then Spain again where he was jailed, then Switzerland where Sky News tracked him down.

His arrest and extradition in 2019 followed 30 years of fraud which began as a 16-year-old public schoolboy when he was imprisoned for stealing his father's gold credit card.

Acklom took his pals on trips to Europe in hired private jets, before persuading a building society to give him a £500,000 mortgage which he used to buy a London mansion.

Over the years, he has been jailed five times for deception in Spain, once in the UK for forging medical prescriptions and more recently in Switzerland for fraud.

In 2015 he was jailed for three years in Spain for defrauding two brothers - he conned them into paying him deposits on flats he claimed to own in London.

Halfway through his sentence he appealed and was given temporary release. But he fled to Switzerland - taking advantage of open borders and changing his name by deed poll to get new passports.

The Spanish authorities have asked for his extradition so he can complete the outstanding 18 months of his sentence, and a court hearing in London is expected soon.

Former detective chief superintendent Kevin Hurley, who has followed the Acklom case, said: "When you consider the criminality that goes on in Spain, the serious violence, people trafficking, they're probably not going to be overly keen to keep him in prison for too long, so I'm sure he will find a way of talking his way out for early release there."

While Acklom was on the run from Spain - and wanted by British police - we discovered him living with his Spanish wife and children in a luxury lakeside apartment outside Zurich, where he duped a German former banker into giving him 400,000 euros for a company he claimed was making black box data recorders for driverless cars.

Harald Herbon said he was persuaded to invest the large sum after various phone calls with Acklom who told him he was the European agent for billionaire US car designer Elon Musk.

Mr Herbon admitted he hadn't actually met Acklom.

Source: skynews

French attackers damage more than 20 COVID vaccine centres Hundreds attack Syrians' homes and businesses in the capital Ankara

BENEFIT, the Kingdom’s innovator and leading company in Fintech and electronic financial transactions service, has sponsored the BuildHer CityHack 2025 Hackathon, a two-day event spearheaded by the College of Engineering and Technology at the Royal University for Women (RUW).
Aimed at secondary school students, the event brought together a distinguished group of academic professionals and technology experts to mentor and inspire young participants.
More than 100 high school students from across the Kingdom of Bahrain took part in the hackathon, which featured an intensive programme of training workshops and hands-on sessions. These activities were tailored to enhance participants’ critical thinking, collaborative problem-solving, and team-building capabilities, while also encouraging the development of practical and sustainable solutions to contemporary challenges using modern technological tools.
BENEFIT’s Chief Executive Mr. Abdulwahed AlJanahi, commented: “Our support for this educational hackathon reflects our long-term strategic vision to nurture the talents of emerging national youth and empower the next generation of accomplished female leaders in technology. By fostering creativity and innovation, we aim to contribute meaningfully to Bahrain’s comprehensive development goals and align with the aspirations outlined in the Kingdom’s Vision 2030—an ambition in which BENEFIT plays a central role.”
Professor Riyadh Yousif Hamzah, President of the Royal University for Women, commented: “This initiative reflects our commitment to advancing women in STEM fields. We're cultivating a generation of creative, solution-driven female leaders who will drive national development. Our partnership with BENEFIT exemplifies the powerful synergy between academia and private sector in supporting educational innovation.”
Hanan Abdulla Hasan, Senior Manager, PR & Communication at BENEFIT, said: “We are honoured to collaborate with RUW in supporting this remarkable technology-focused event. It highlights our commitment to social responsibility, and our ongoing efforts to enhance the digital and innovation capabilities of young Bahraini women and foster their ability to harness technological tools in the service of a smarter, more sustainable future.”
For his part, Dr. Humam ElAgha, Acting Dean of the College of Engineering and Technology at the University, said: “BuildHer CityHack 2025 embodies our hands-on approach to education. By tackling real-world problems through creative thinking and sustainable solutions, we're preparing women to thrive in the knowledge economy – a cornerstone of the University's vision.”