“The suspect for all four offences has claimed that he is Russian and in a
number of the incidents claimed he was looking for a property for his
teenage daughter.
“Surrey Police has been liaising with local estate agents and neighbouring
forces to share information and put measures in place to prevent further
offences occurring.”
Police fear some wealthy homeowners may not yet know they have been targeted.
During the raid on Miss Ecclestone’s mansion in Belgravia in London he claimed
to be a Kazakh millionaire called Oleg. A spokeswoman said the 24-year-old
was not in the property at the time.
It is thought the man demands a viewing from estate agents at such short
notice they are not able to complete the checks normally required to view a
high value property. Some agents have described his East European as so bad,
they compared it to the character of Borat, played by Sacha Baron Cohen.
Mark Hayward, managing director of the National Association of Estate Agents,
said some agents can find it difficult to refuse clients a viewing who
appear to be a wealthy person. He said: ““If people have all the trappings
of wealth, sometimes an agent might find it more difficult to ask more
probing questions,
He added that agents would have insurance to cover losses if they were found
to be negligent as they “have a duty of care.”
Miss Ecclestone recently purchased the most expensive home ever listed for
sale in the United States, spending £55 million on the 57,000ft mansion
which was originally listed for £97.6 million.
The sprawling French chateau-style property in Los Angeles has more than 100
rooms, including 14 bedrooms.