Former Brookside actor Philip Foster has been arrested in Spain by an armed unit of the Guardia Civil. The 51-year-old, who had been on the run since being sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison in his absence last year, was detained on Thursday in the coastal town of Torrevieja.
The arrest occurred under unusual circumstances; Foster was apprehended by officers who were in the area conducting an investigation into an entirely unrelated murder. According to a spokesperson for the Guardia Civil, the progress of that homicide investigation led authorities to a man whose identity checks confirmed he was one of the UK’s most wanted fugitives.
Following his detention, a search of Foster’s residence yielded €22,000 in cash and a collection of fake identification documents. He has now been charged with document forgery as he awaits the legal process for his extradition to the United Kingdom, where he must serve his prison term for his role in a massive fraud scheme.
Foster was identified as the mastermind behind a network of sham modelling agencies that defrauded more than 6,000 victims—predominantly young people and mothers—out of over £13.5 million. Victims were lured into paying substantial fees under the false promise of securing legitimate modelling work, leaving many in severe financial distress.
For months, the Liverpool Echo had tracked the movements of the former television star. While he was initially believed to be living a high-profile life of luxury in Marbella, investigators eventually discovered he had relocated 500km north to the Costa Blanca to “hide in plain sight” among the region’s large expat community. Reporters had previously identified an address in the Punta Prima area where Foster was residing, located only kilometres from where the Guardia Civil eventually took him into custody.
His life on the run had been marked by turmoil, including the death of his wife, Nicola Jones, who passed away of natural causes on May 16—just two days after Foster was publicly named on the National Crime Agency’s (NCA) “most wanted” list.
Rick Jones, the NCA’s deputy director of international operations, praised the cooperation between UK and Spanish law enforcement, stating, “Foster’s arrest demonstrates the continued success of the most wanted campaign and our commitment to tracking down criminals wanted by UK law enforcement.”
While Philip Foster is now in custody awaiting return to the UK, his son, Michael Foster, who was also sentenced in his absence to three-and-a-half years for his role in the same fraud network, remains at large. He is currently understood to be missing in Spain, and authorities continue their efforts to locate him.
The detainee has been transferred to the Preliminary Investigation Section of the Court of First Instance in Alicante and is expected to be brought before the National High Court to formalize his extradition.
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