THE BUCKIE WOMAN who became the target of a nationwide search with a reward of £2000 offered by Crimestoppers for information on her whereabouts is in custody.
In November last year Crimestoppers issued the ‘wanted’ reward for Buckie-born Pauleen Flett, who they said had managed to evade police in several parts of the country for over nine years.
It was claimed that Flett, who was also known under the alias Pauline Campbell, was involved in several crimes that saw her victims being scammed out of large sums of money. She is believed to have evaded police by constantly moving around the country and changing her appearance.
However, justice finally caught up with the 32-year-old who taunted police by posting selfies on Facebook – including one where she is posing with a police officer and wearing his hat.
This week Flett appeared in court to answer a warrant for her arrest issued in Livingston Sheriff Court in 2010.
Confirming her arrest a spokesman for police in Edinburgh said: “We can confirm that a 32-year-old woman was arrested on an outstanding warrant in connection with embezzlement.” Flett later appeared at Livingston from custody, where Sheriff Jamie Gilmour ordered a criminal justice social work report before sentencing her at a later date.
The warrant on which she was arrested related to the embezzlement of £1159 from a Shell petrol station at which she worked in the West Lothian town in July, 2008.
It has been reported that Flett was responsible for a string of crimes that started in Banffshire and went on to Glasgow, Edinburgh and throughout the central belt. One victim claimed that Flett has stolen £1200 from his cancer-stricken father after working at his pub for six months before taking the cash after locking up the bar in January 2006.
In August last year the law appeared to have caught up with Flett when a former boyfriend, Robert Murdoch, tracked her down in Livingston – but she gave police the slip after persuading them to take her to hospital.
A Crimestoppers spokesman would not confirm if the reward had been paid, saying: “Any confirmation that a reward has been claimed would confirm information had been received by Crimestoppers – that in turn threatens exposing the identity of someone who gave it to us.”