UK's most wanted woman Sarah Panitzke arrested in Spain

A fraudster dubbed the UK's most wanted woman has been arrested in Spain after nearly a decade on the run.

Sarah Panitzke, 47, disappeared in May 2013 while on trial over her part in laundering cash from a £1bn mobile phone tax scam.

She was arrested while walking her dogs in Santa Barbara, Tarragona, on Sunday, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said.

Panitzke, originally from Fulford, York, was convicted and sentenced in her absence to eight years in jail.

Simon York, from HM Revenue and Customs, said Panitzke had played a "pivotal role" in the scam, moving millions through offshore bank accounts.

She had been the subject of a number of "most wanted" appeals to find fugitives since she vanished.

The Spanish Guardia Civil said she was tracked down to a town near Barcelona in 2015, but she became aware of the police operation to arrest her, so disguised herself and managed to flee.

Last month, she was traced to the small town of Santa Barbara and put under surveillance until her arrest.

Extradition proceedings have started to bring her back to the UK, the NCA said.

The agency's international deputy director Tom Dowdall said: "Sarah Panitzke has been on the run for almost nine years. Given the length of time, she might have thought we had stopped searching, but she remained on our radar.

"Joint working between UK law enforcement and our partners in Spain led to her being apprehended, and we will now seek her extradition back to the UK to serve her prison sentence.

"This should serve as a warning to others on our most wanted list - we will not rest until you are captured, no matter how long it takes."

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