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<\/p>\nCONMAN John Eric Wells has now been on the run for FOUR YEARS after spinning a web of lies to convince women he won a \u00a38.4million jackpot.<\/p>\n
The Doncaster decorator vanished back in 2019 after conning his lovers out of \u00a3400,000.<\/p>\n
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Wells, who used to go by the name Howard Walmsley, first hit the headlines back in 2001.<\/p>\n
The unusual crook was he was jailed for three years after he posed as a Lottery winner to save his marriage with wife Kathy and con victims out of cash.<\/p>\n
He targeted banks, a solicitor, an architect, a car firm and two women friends.<\/p>\n
Wells conned one woman out of \u00a38,000 by making her believe he was about to move in with her.<\/p>\n
He ordered a fleet of Jaguar cars and made plans for an extension – including a swimming pool, granny flat and garages.<\/p>\n By the time he was arrested he was claiming to have scooped \u00a38.4 million on the Lottery.<\/p>\n His case even inspired the 2004 ITV film 'Can\u2019t Buy Me Love' which starred Martin Kemp and Michelle Collins.<\/p>\n Judge Jane Shipley, who originally jailed him at Sheffield Crown Court, told him he lived in a 'fantasy world'.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n She added: "You wanted to aspire to the high life and appear successful, but you seem to lack what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur."<\/p>\n After being sent to prison, Wells laid low for 18 years – however, in 2019 he once again hit the headline.<\/p>\n It was then police revealed they are looking for him in connection with three high value \u201cromance frauds\u201d.<\/p>\n Victim Hazel Wilkins, of Brighton, told how she fell for Wells after meeting him online in June 2014.<\/p>\n He swept her off her feet and proposed in front of her family and friends in December 2015.<\/p>\n They set the date four times but on each occasion he had a reason to cancel.<\/p>\n In the end he stole her life savings of almost \u00a363,000.<\/p>\n Hazel said: "Before I met him I had a good job, lots of money in the bank and I'd never been in debt.<\/p>\n \u201cThat man has ruined my life and who knows how many others.<\/p>\n "I had a nice<\/span> life and a beautiful home. But he left me with so much debt. I don't want to fall in love again.\u00a0<\/p>\n "I won't trust anybody. I have got to the point of hiding my purse. I just want him found and put where he is supposed to be – behind bars."<\/p>\n He convinced her to leave her job, telling her he had a 500-seater restaurant in Guernsey that she could manage, which never materialised, she alleges.<\/p>\n Hazel said he took her on cruises and they stayed in penthouse suites in top hotels.<\/p>\n Wells claimed told her he owned dozens of hotels around the world and pretended to go on frequent \u201cbusiness trips\u201d, often sending her photos from exotic-looking locations.<\/p>\n In reality he was working in his hometown of Doncaster, South Yorks, where he was living a double life, she claims.<\/p>\n He was carrying out an identical scam on another woman, who Hazel has since been in touch with.<\/p>\n Hazel says Wells also claimed he had cancer, and cancelled their wedding plans five times, saying that friends and family had died.<\/p>\n He was convincing, charming, funny and kind. Love is blind and I was head over heels.<\/p>\n Wells vanished in 2017 and Hazel claims she\u2019s been paying back \u00a317,000 in loans he took out in her name, which has wiped out half her pension.<\/p>\n He also promised to buy her daughters a house but backed out at the last minute, leaving one of them, who had a newborn baby, desperate and homeless.<\/p>\n Hazel felt she had to sell her own home to buy somewhere for her daughter and new grandchild to live – then had to move in with them herself.<\/p>\n She explained: \u201cI feel so stupid. But he was convincing, charming, funny and kind. Love is blind<\/span> and I was head over heels."<\/p>\n South Yorkshire police said in a statement Wells is wanted in connection with three high value romance frauds, during which three victims lost money totalling more than \u00a3400,000.<\/p>\n Cops also said they believe he is abroad –\u00a0 and pals have said he is hiding in Vietnam with a new wealthy lover.<\/p>\n In 2019 friends claimed a wealthy woman from Vietnam had bought him a bar, which he had been helping to renovate and where he had been entertaining karaoke customers, The Mirror reports.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/newspress-collage-23982303-1694820757974.jpg\")
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