A brazen con man - who allegedly deployed his skills to steal a free stay at a top resort in Belize is in police custody tonight.
40 year old US Citizen Nicolas Paula - who also turns out to be a Costa Rican named Christopher Marchena - was detained in San Pedro this afternoon.
But that's after he stiffed a high end Placencia luxury resort, Itz'ana and left a 27 thousand Belize dollar bill unpaid.
Resort staff made a complaint two weeks ago, detailing an elaborate ruse perpetrated by Paula. He arrived at the resort on February 5th, and stayed until February 13th - tricking the management by presenting three bogus proofs of payment 0 i the form of fake online wire transfers. And then, on February 13th - one day before checkout - he disappeared, leaving outstanding bills totaling $13,525.55 USD or $27,051.10 BZD for the eight-night stay.
He had been at large for two weeks - but we are reliably informed that he was apprehended don San Pedro this afternoon. He is set to face charges of obtaining property by deception.
A release from the Itz'ana Resort says "We acknowledge the challenges that come with international transactions and the slim margins for error they present..."
