THE BUCKIE WOMAN who was once dubbed as Scotland’s ‘Most Wanted’ female after a string of con-tricks around the country is reported to be on the run once again.
Such was the seriousness of Pauleen Flett’s crimes, a £2000 reward was offered for her arrest by Crimestoppers in November 2015.
Flett, who also used the alias Pauleen Campbell, was involved in a series of crimes that saw victims being scammed out of large sums of cash – it is believed she evaded capture by constantly moving around the country.
Her spree appeared to be at an end when she was arrested in Edinburgh last year on a warrant dating back to crimes in West Lothian in July 2008. The Crimestoppers reward was never paid as Flett gave herself up – she subsequently appeared at Livingston Sheriff Court in June 2016 and ordered to pay compensation for embezzling £1159 from a Shell service station in the West Lothian town.
Now, however, a new probe has been launched following complaints from guests at a Paisley hotel who had bogus payments taken from their bank accounts. Flett had been working at the hotel as a live-in manager but left suddenly when the complaints started to surface and the owners questions a fall in takings.
One victim, Robert McFarlane, told a Sunday newspaper: “We noticed when we got our latest bank statement that there was an extra payment taken from the account on May 27. When we phoned the hotel to query it, the guy on the phone said ‘you are not the only ones – there are dozens, maybe hundreds’”
The report adds that Flett is again using the name Campbell as well as Reid. Hotel sources told the newspaper that Flett had provided false references when applying for the job.
A spokesperson for the Scotia Airport Hotel said: “We employed a Pauline Reid in November 2016 – police later advised that this person is known to them as Pauline Flett. In May 2017, management became aware of financial irregularities – Pauline was asked to explain them but she failed to attend a meeting. The hotel contacted the police and they are dealing with inquiries.”
Police confirmed that an investigation is under way, saying: “We received complaints of financial irregularities from members of the public who had been staying at the Scotia Airport Hotel.”