Fugitive found living in the north of Cyprus

A MAN wanted for financial fraud in the UK has been tracked down in Kyrenia by Sky News.

Timur Mehmet, 39, has been hiding in the Turkish-occupied north of the island for the past five years.

He is wanted by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs after being convicted in his absence and jailed for eight years for conspiracy to cheat the public revenue in a £25 million fraud.

A Sky News reporter found Mehmet living in a “plush, new villa” in Kyrenia and although he denied it was him initially, he later admitted he was the man pictured on a poster issued by UK crime-fighting charity Crimestoppers.

And he claimed he was trying to negotiate a deal with British authorities that would see him return to the UK.

“Yes, it’s me,” he told the Sky News reporter who confronted him outside his villa. “I am trying to do a deal to return to the UK. People who think I should be serving my sentence will get their wish very soon.”

Mehmet, a British national with family ties to Cyprus, was among nine of the UK’s most wanted fugitives thought to be hiding in Cyprus.

Their identities were revealed during a news conference in Nicosia early in September.

Three of the nine have surrendered to authorities since then.

“I was already talking to my lawyer before the Crimestoppers appeal. I am going to resolve this, but I don’t see the benefit in talking to you about it. It’s complicated,” Mehmet told Sky News.

According to Sky, the fugitive denied the villa he was living in was his and when asked what he did in northern Cyprus, he replied: “Nothing.”

Sky however said it had established his connection with a burger restaurant called Johnny Rocket’s in Famagusta.

He is also involved in developing a 12-storey office block in Nicosia, Sky said.

Two other Britons hiding in the north surrendered around a week ago.

Wayne Smith, 38, wanted by West Midlands Police for his role in an horrific road accident that killed a 22-year-old man, and his partner, Julie Anne Skelding, 40, wanted for perverting the course of justice in connection with the accident, crossed over to the government-controlled areas and gave themselves up to police.

Suspected sex offender Paul Lockwood, 41 – also on the most wanted list – was arrested in Somerset, UK, just two days after the list was published. He is suspected of raping an underage girl and indecently assaulting another.

Sky news