Fraudster wanted over multi-million pound property scam falls to his death on one of Britain's most affluent roads

Susanna Siddell
Mon, 27 Apr 2026 08:50:14 +0000

A fraudster who is wanted over a multi-million pound property scam fell to his death on one of Britain's most affluent roads.

Karl Cronin, 58, was discovered with fatal injuries on the pavement of King's Road, in Chelsea, London in the early hours of Easter Monday.

The scammer is believed to have fallen from a second-floor flat, while the Metropolitan Police said they do not suspect any third-party involvement in his death, the Daily Mail revealed.

Investigations into the circumstances of his death remain ongoing.

Before his death, Cronin had been sought by detectives over his involvement in a major property fraud worth millions of pounds.

He featured in a 2008 BBC Crimewatch appeal while police attempted to track down the infamous swindler.

Cronin became a wanted man after defrauding landlords and property owners across Chelsea and Fulham back in the early 2000s.

His scams are believed to have netted him more than £5million.

It remains unclear how he managed to return to the UK capital without alerting authorities.

Cronin had been living in a rented flat since November last year, having arrived at London Heathrow, insiders told the Daily Mail.

He was also linked to a high-profile 2017 fraud case that resulted in prison sentences for model Laylah de Cruz and her mother Dianne Moorcroft.

The pair were convicted of conning a 91-year-old heiress out of money raised against her home.

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De Cruz, a Dubai-based stable owner, had encouraged her mother to change her name by deed poll to impersonate the true owner of a vacant £3million Kensington property.

Moorcroft then obtained a British passport and Dubai resident's permit in the name of the elderly victim, Margaret Gwenllian Richards, who has since died.

The pair secured a £1.2million bridging loan against the three-bedroom house before finding a buyer, with the funds transferred to Dubai and later withdrawn as cash.

Prosecutor Teresa Hay told the court that neither woman "were the architects or principal beneficiaries" of the fraud.

She added that "there would be some significant interest in [Cronin] if he came back to the UK".

Both women received five-year prison sentences at Southwark Crown Court after being convicted of conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation.

"He did a lot of bad things in his life and destroyed many, many lives. He lived through lies and deceit and had a ruthless streak," one friend said.

They added: "All he cared about was money, dating young women, and having a good time. It did not matter who got hurt along the way."

Another described him as "a loveable rogue, almost like an Arthur Daley figure".