Convicted fraudster Gill Hope found living in Cleobury Mortimer

Jun 7 2009 by Adam Aspinall, Sunday Mercury

AFTER convicted Midland fraudster Gill Hope skipped Britain in 2001 she turned up in the most unlikely of places.

First she set herself up as a charity campaigner and worked her way across America, claiming celebrities and even presidents as potential financial backers.

She was then arrested for failing to pay a hotel bill in Africa – where she claims to be helping 13 million Aids orphans – and was most recently in Ecuador offering to represent poor coffee bean farmers.

But this week the Sunday Mercury finally tracked down the globetrotting former conwoman to the sleepy Shropshire village of Cleobury Mortimer.

Looking tired and washed-out, the one time Midland Businesswoman of the Year was instantly recognisable due to her wearing a garish gold pendent, with the word ‘Hope’ written on it.