A “shameless” fraudster who stole £300,000 from a vulnerable pensioner and spent it on Botox and other luxuries has been tracked down by Sky News in 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.
Along with cosmetic treatments like Botox, Gwinnett splurged on lavish meals, a £22,500 car, and mortgages for properties she owned.
Gwinnett, 63, fled to Tenerife in breach of her bail conditions while awaiting trial and has been living in a picturesque seaside apartment in the south of the island for the last 11 months.
She was sentenced in her absence last October to six years for theft and fraud by abuse of position.
Confronted by Sky News outside her Tenerife home, Gwinnett said she was not in the UK “because I’ve got an appeal going on”.
Asked if she stole Joan’s savings, she said: “No, never. Her family took it.”
“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.”
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”.
Gwinnett’s ‘brass neck’
Joan, from Chorley, Lancashire, died in 2022.
Speaking to Sky News, 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”.
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.
The UK authorities are trying to extradite Gwinnett from Spain. Police in Spain did not respond when we asked if her arrest was imminent.
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Flight from justice
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.
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.
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.
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.”
‘She’s evil, but very clever’
Last month, Preston Crown Court made a confiscation order of £350,180.79 against Gwinnett.
She must pay this amount within three months or she faces three and a half more years being added to her six-year prison 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.”
If you recognise Pamela Gwinnett and would like to speak to us, email: [email protected]
Additional reporting by Darren Little, news editor, and Charlie Brunskill, camera operator
