Million Dollar Brit ‘Ponzi Scheme’ Fraudster Arrested At Airport

A British man accused of masterminding a multimillion-euro Ponzi scheme has been arrested at a major international airport while waiting to board a plane.

Mark Richard Jackson was detained at El Dorado Airport in Bogota, Colombia, in a joint operation involving Spanish and EU police, Interpol and immigration officials, following an EU arrest warrant had been issued in Belgium on 4th April.

Authorities say the suspect is a key figure in an alleged Ponzi-style scheme that tricked investors into pouring money into fake renewable energy projects in Finland and Canada.

Victims, including many Spain based expats were promised lucrative returns of up to 25 per cent through investments in biomass and wood-processing ventures. But investigators say the projects never existed and operated only on paper.

Instead, early payouts were allegedly funded using money from new investors.

Belgian prosecutors claim the operation ran between 2019 and 2025 and caused losses of around EUR 3.5 million.

Jackson is also accused of handling transfers totalling more than EUR 100,000 into personal accounts.

He now faces a string of charges including fraud, money laundering, document forgery and cybercrime.

Following his arrest, officers seized electronic devices and cash from his luggage before transferring him to police custody in Bogota.

He is currently being held while authorities begin extradition proceedings to send him to Belgium, where he is wanted to stand trial.

The extradition process is ongoing.