Laurence Dollimore
SERIAL expat fraudster Paula Neale who was first exposed by the Olive Press has finally been arrested in Spain.
It comes after dozens of stories over the past FOUR years detailed how the British fraudster was cheating holidaymakers out of thousands through fake holiday rentals.
Thanks to our tip-offs, authorities began Operation Neale in a bid to track her down.
The 44-year-old was reportedly picked up in Burgos as she was getting into a stolen car yesterday.
It comes after she just managed to evade police earlier this year after we alerted authorities that she was hiding in Girona with her two children.
The British mum managed to escape to France, where she set up a new Tinder profile, describing herself as ‘not your typical English woman abroad’.
The Guardia Civil said: “We have arrested a 44-year-old British national in Spain whose initials are P.L.N as part of Operation NEALE.
“The detainee is suspected of vehicle theft, stealing car number-plates, falsifying public documents and fraud, namely four crimes of holiday rental fraud.
“The arrested woman, who is linked to the Costa del Sol, had been reported to police several times for alleged frauds committed against British nationals for renting holiday homes in Spain and sub-letting different properties which weren’t in her name or didn’t exist.
”Neale claimed she had worked as an actress before she vanished her former base on the Costa del Sol.”
Neale hooked in victims by placing fake holiday rentals on Facebook and taking money from them over Paypal.
One alleged British victim told us how she lost £750 on a non-existent holiday rental advertised through an alias Neale was claimed to be using.
Brit Sara Belmont told the Olive Press earlier this year how two couples turned up within hours of each other to rent an apartment she owned in Riviera del Sol near Fuengirola after it is claimed Neale moved in as a tenant under the alias Sharon Tate.
A source said Neale had been released on bail after appearing before a judge in a closed court hearing pending an ongoing criminal probe.
The source said she had not been remanded in custody for the time being because of her young children.
