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AUCKLAND - A man at the centre of claims he drugged his two ex-wives who were involved in car crashes in Britain and Auckland has twice faced Scottish authorities on unrelated matters since fleeing New Zealand.
Malcolm John Webster, 48, also walked out of an English police station
in January which he visited after being reported missing, despite being wanted in New Zealand, because there was no international arrest warrant.
There are four warrants for Webster's arrest in New Zealand for charges including drugging his second wife Felicity Drumm, who was found with a strong sedative used to treat epilepsy in her system after a 1998 car crash, and for the arson of Ms Drumm's parents' home.
Scottish police also recently re-opened the file on the death of Webster's first wife Claire, who died in Scotland in 1994 when her car hit a tree and burst into flames.
Her death was originally believed to be an accident but tests on samples of her blood kept since her death also tested positive to a sedative.
Webster survived both crashes and received a Stg200,000 ($NZ512,000) insurance payout for his first wife's death.
The Sun newspaper today reported Webster was investigated by police for allegedly embezzling thousands of pounds when he was treasurer of the Oban and Lorn Angling Club in Scotland in 2005.
His successor, Andy MacArthur, became concerned when he took the job to find the club had a Stg700 ($NZ1790) overdraft instead of at least Stg4500 in the black.
He said Webster assured him he paid numerous invoices worth about Stg6000 but he hadn't, prompting him to go to police.
"Some time in early 2006 I received a cheque for Stg6000," Mr MacArthur told The Sun. "He treated me like a fool. I always believed there was something fishy about him."
Webster also appeared in Oban Sheriff Court charged with stealing a laptop computer from Oban's Lorn and Islands Hospital in 2005.
He was released after there was found to be no case to answer, despite the laptop being found in his home, the newspaper said.
Yesterday, a Scotsman newspaper story said Webster was reported missing by Strathclyde police. He presented himself at a station in Cornwall, southwest England, and was allowed to leave.
"It appears he knew the police were looking for him because of publicity in the local media," a police spokesman told the Scotsman.
"We didn't want him for any offences. Our concern was to ensure that he was safe and well and accounted for.
"We now understand he is now sought by the New Zealand police, but there would have to be some sort of international arrest warrant, which I understand there wasn't at the time."
Detective Inspector Mike Bush of North Shore police said no application for an extradition warrant was made as police hadn't been searching for him in Britain.
Mr Bush said that an officer had been appointed to liaise with the Scottish police and that it was unlikely Webster would be extradited to New Zealand if he was charged over the Scottish death.
"We will let things run their course over there."
Mr Bush would not say whether New Zealand police knew of another crash which apparently happened several weeks before the fatal crash which killed Claire Webster in 1994.
Police in Scotland have appealed for help about an incident involving a four wheel drive vehicle containing a couple aged between 30 and 40, being towed back onto the road by a farmer with a tractor.
After the fatal Scottish crash, Webster collected his insurance payout and went to Saudi Arabia where he met Ms Drumm, a New Zealander. They moved to New Zealand and were married in 1997.
The Scottish Sunday Mail reported at the weekend that shortly after their marriage, Ms Drumm told doctors she was having blackouts.
- NZPA
