Mark Acklom

Mark Richard George Acklom^[1][2][3] (born 1973) is an English conman and fraudster who was on Britain's National Crime Agency's list of 10 most-wanted fugitives. His criminal career began at the age of 16 and he has been imprisoned five times in Spain since 1999. He was wanted by Avon & Somerset Police on suspicion of fraud by false representation.

Mark Acklom was born in Lambeth in London in 1973,^[4] the oldest of four children. He was educated at Eastbourne College. He was first jailed in 1991 when he was sentenced to four years in a young offender institution for stealing his father's American Express card and posing as a stockbroker to commit a £1 million fraud that included obtaining a £446,168 mortgage on a house and hiring private jets.^[5][6][7] He was described by the judge as "utterly selfish and completely ruthless".^[6] His parents, who informed the police of their son's activities, moved to rented accommodation and sold their house in Bromley to raise money to help pay off his debts.^[8] The events were the subject of an episode of Crime Limited in August 1993.^[9]

Acklom has been imprisoned five times in Spain. He was wanted by Avon & Somerset Police on suspicion of fraud by false representation after he started a romantic relationship with a woman in 2012, telling her he was Mark Conway, a rich Swiss banker and MI6 agent. The woman lent him a total of £850,000 which has never been repaid.^[10][11][12] His other aliases are alleged to include Marc Ros Rodriguez, George Kennedy and Zac Moss.^[8]

In May 2017, he was reported to have been seen and photographed in a café in Switzerland with a man who could be wanted fugitive Costas Estevez.^[13][14] Police seeking to detain Acklom under a European Arrest Warrant had previously been searching for him in Spain after he was released early from prison there before the warrant could be issued.^[15][16]

Acklom was on the National Crime Agency's list of 10 most-wanted fugitives.^[15] On 30 June 2018 Acklom was arrested at an apartment in Zürich^[17] and after extradition in 2019 was set to face trial later that year.^[18]

Acklom admitted fraud, relating to £850,000, acquired from a woman he targeted, at Bristol Crown Court in August 2019. He was sentenced to 5 years and 8 months and was the subject of a Sky documentary in 2019 – Conman: The Life and Crimes of Mark Acklom.^{[19][20][21][22]}

Acklom is married to Maria Yolanda Ros Rodriguez who uses the aliases Yolianda Ross, Maria Long and Mary Moss. The couple have two daughters.^[23]