A Swedish conman who was allegedly posing as Lady Gaga‘s rep, among others, was arrested in Athens’ city center after defrauding a Greek AirBnB owner.
According to Greek channels, who aired footage from the moment of the arrest, the man was already wanted by the Swedish police on extensive money laundering charges long before the Athens AirBnB incident.
The Swedish authorities had requested the collaboration of the Greek police to locate and arrest him, as he had no fixed home address.
Swedish conman posed as manager of Lady Gaga and 50Cent
The Swedish conman was living in Greece since at least January, according to Greek private network SKAI TV.
Recently, after booking a luxury AirBnB flat under the Acropolis for five days, he requested to extend his stay directly from the owner, but the property was already booked by another customer on the platform. Therefore, the owner counter-proposed another property, and billed the man for 6350 euros for the duration of his stay, which he was expected to pay by bank transfer.
The man then sent the flat owner a counterfeit proof of payment by a Swedish bank, but as the money was never received, the businessman started to look into the details of the transaction only to find out that the date showing on the payment document was dated earlier than the date when he had given his bank details to the Swede.
Upon confronting the conman, the businessman was met with a violent response, and so he resorted to the police.
It emerged that the Swede would introduce himself in Greece as the manager or representative of top class inetrnational celebrities, such as Lady Gaga and 50Cent, and also as a brand ambassador of a -yet undisclosed- world-renowned liquor brand.
Greek police are still investigating whether the arrested man had defrauded more locals, under the pretence of his fake affiliations. Greece’s Star Channel reports that the Swede had previously been reported for fraud in Belgium, Romania, and Luxembourg.
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