Fraudster who stole £300k from pensioner and spent it on Botox and lavish meals arrested in Tenerife

A "shameless" fraudster who stole £300,000 from a vulnerable pensioner has been arrested after Sky News tracked her down to Tenerife.

Pamela Gwinnett isolated 89-year-old Joan Green from her family while pretending to act as her carer during the COVID-19 pandemic.

She convinced Joan to transfer power of attorney to her - giving her control over her finances - and raided the retired accountant's life savings.

Gwinnett spent the money she took on Botox treatments, lavish meals, a £22,500 car, and mortgages for properties she owned.

Sky News tracked her down to a picturesque seaside apartment in the south of Tenerife and confronted her earlier this year.

She has now been arrested on the island, and it is understood she will appear in court in Spain before being flown back to the UK.

Sky News tracked fraudster down

When Sky News spoke to Gwinnett outside her home and asked if she stole Joan's savings, she said: "No, never. Her family took it."

She told us she was not in the UK "because I've got an appeal going on".

"I don't need to answer these questions," she said. "Did I heck take the money. I was her power of attorney and executor, her solicitor's got all the money.

"I didn't have her bank card, her family had it. They have made me a scapegoat."

'It has taken far too long'

Joan's family told Sky News on Wednesday: "We are pleased that Pamela Gwinnett has finally been arrested and will now be held accountable for what she did to my nan.

"However, it has taken far too long to reach this point.

"Whilst this outcome cannot undo what happened, we hope it brings some measure of closure and serves as a reminder of the importance of protecting vulnerable people from abuse and exploitation."

Gwinnett, 63, fled to Tenerife in breach of her bail conditions while awaiting trial and has been living on the island for more than a year.

She was sentenced in her absence last October to six years for theft and fraud by abuse of position.

Gwinnett's crimes have become known at her apartment complex, where furious residents have put up posters: One says "justice for Joan Green", and another is a picture of Gwinnett with the caption "wanted".

'All the pain she's caused'

Joan, from Chorley, Lancashire, died in 2022.

Speaking to Sky News earlier this year, her step-grandson David Bolton said his biggest fear was that she died believing Gwinnett's lies that her family had abandoned her and didn't love her.

David said: "The fact [is] that she's just sunning it up in Tenerife, walking around, doesn't care - only about herself.

"All the pain she's caused everybody over here, all the upset. It's just so annoying."

Gwinnett took extreme measures to stop Joan's family from intervening in her scheme, changing Joan's landline number, padlocking the gates and telling carers to stop the family coming in.

During her sentencing, Judge Michael Maher said Gwinnett "played the long game" to isolate Joan and treat her like a "cash cow to be milked".

Family secretly filmed video of fraudster

The trial was played a video secretly filmed by David, showing a row with Gwinnett.

In the footage, Gwinnett shouts: "This is nothing to do with you - I'm power of attorney."

When the family say she doesn't speak for Joan, she yells: "Yes I do!"

She also accuses David of being a "criminal" and "grooming" his grandmother.

Joan can be heard asking "what's happening?" as David holds her hand and comforts her.

Judge Maher said the video showed Gwinnett's "self-assured shamelessness" and "brass neck".

Calling for Gwinnett's extradition, he said it was an "affront to justice and the rule of law" for her to remain in Tenerife.

Joan's family feel let down by the authorities' handling of Gwinnett's case while she was in the UK.

In March last year, a judge decided not to force Gwinnett to hand over her passport as part of bail conditions.

A month later, Gwinnett was issued with a bail notice requiring her to hand in her passport to police.

But she left the UK for Tenerife five hours after that notice was issued and has not returned to the UK since.

Attempts to remand fraudster in custody

The Crown Prosecution Service said it did all it could to keep Gwinnett in the UK and that when it became clear she was breaching her bail conditions by travelling between the UK and Tenerife, it asked Greater Manchester Police if an arrest could be made.

Greater Manchester Police said it arrested Gwinnett for fraudulently obtaining a new passport when it became aware she was breaching her bail conditions.

The force said it tried to get Gwinnett remanded in custody on four occasions, but her lack of previous convictions meant these attempts did not succeed.

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Joan's family have complained to Lancashire Police for failing to launch a criminal investigation into Gwinnett's initial offending.

When relatives raised concerns about the huge sums of money leaving Joan's bank account, Lancashire Police concluded it was a civil matter and took no further action.

But when Joan's family took the same evidence to Greater Manchester Police, the force immediately launched a criminal investigation and arrested Gwinnett.

Deadline for court confiscation order lapsed

Lancashire Police said: "We can confirm that in March 2023 we were contacted in relation to an allegation of fraud. Our handling of that allegation is currently subject to an ongoing complaint which is with our Professional Standards Department and for that reason it would be inappropriate to comment any further at this time."

Preston Crown Court made a confiscation order of £350,180.79 against Gwinnett.

She had to pay this amount within three months, or she faces three and a half more years being added to her six-year prison sentence.

This timeframe has now lapsed, and it's unclear if Gwinnett paid the money.

Gwinnett has made applications to appeal both her conviction and sentence.

Joan's family are convinced this is not the first time Gwinnett has defrauded a vulnerable person.

"She's evil, but she's very, very clever at what she does," step-grandson David said. "She knows how to play the system. This isn't her first time of doing it, there's no way.

"She's too confident, she's too clued up on what to do and how to behave."

Additional reporting by Darren Little, news editor, and Charlie Brunskill, camera operator

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