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A conman academic exposed by the Standard has gone on the run while on bail after being arrested when he turned up to deliver a lecture.
Erich Kofmel, 34, is accused of defrauding dozens of victims by letting out non-existent holiday homes and apartments.
Kofmel is believed to have fled to his native Switzerland when he was released on bail after being arrested at the London School of Economics on suspicion of fraud last year.
The academic was uncovered by the Standard in 2006 for operating a scam where he would demand huge fees in advance from prospective tenants, then claim they had failed credit checks and keep their money. Applicants, mainly foreign students, were charged as much as £900 for a deposit on a flat in Fulham advertised for rent on gumtree.com.
Italian massage therapist Sofia Ghirardini, 33, said she only received back £240 from an £865 deposit after weeks of wrangling. Now it has emerged that Kofmel, who was studying for a PhD at Sussex University where he was also a student representative, has been accused of running another internet property scam.
BBC South's Inside Out programme tonight speaks to people who say they paid hundreds of pounds upfront for holiday apartments around the world that Kofmel advertised online, but in reality never existed.
Sam Enthoven, a children's author who booked an apartment for a trip to New York, said: "There is a bare-faced element to it, and he probably feels very pleased with himself.
"It's important that people trust each other, and this guy's playing on that."
Sussex University said Kofmel was not connected to it in an official capacity, although his Sussex Centre for the Individual and Society was based in rented offices on the campus.
A former colleague, Alex Higgins, said Kofmel had created his own school of philosophy, which justified the exploitation of other people. "As far as I understand it, his philosophy is that there are creators in this world and there are second-handers. He believes he is a creator and can use people instrumentally," he said.
The programme also features Piers Calascione, who claims he received complaints from the fraudster's victims after Kofmel stole his address. Mr Calascione said: "He's using his intelligence in a very corrupt way, and if he thinks this is victimless crime it certainly isn't."
Inside Out is on BBC1 tonight at 7.30pm.
