German 'dead fraudster' exposed by pet poodle in Majorca

A poodle like this allegedly gave the game away

A suspected German fraudster living in Majorca allegedly faked her own death, but her story had a rather obvious giveaway - her pet poodle.

The 47-year-old woman, arrested by Spanish police, is suspected of having embezzled around €1m (£866,000; $1.2m) from the German solar power firm she worked for, DPA news agency reports.

Private detectives hired by the firm sniffed around on social media and found that she owned a "giant" poodle.

Their dogged work led to her arrest.

The woman is now out on bail and has reportedly admitted having faked her own death.

The detectives tracked her down to a chic villa in Santa Ponça after spotting a man walking such a poodle, which is not a very common breed on the island.

The largest poodles are often called "giant" or "royal", but are in fact simply large standard poodles at least 38cm (15 inches) tall at the shoulder. The smaller ones are miniature or toy poodles.

• When your 'pandemic puppy' doesn't work out

• Puppy prices soar during lockdown

On Wednesday, police in Majorca confirmed the details which were initially reported by the local daily newspaper Diario de Mallorca.

The story began in November when the woman was summoned to a court hearing in Palma, Majorca.

But suspicions were raised at the solar power firm she worked for in Rostock, north Germany, when her parents reported that she had died in a car crash in March 2020.

Police quoted by Diario de Mallorca said she had in fact been living in Majorca with false ID documents.

You might also like: