Syrian Conman Mohamad Bassam Safieh

the suspect Sir Mhd Bassam Safieh had been arrested on May 27 and was being held in custody. He has refused to be extradited to Syria, where he is wanted on fraud charges.

"He appeared before a tribunal in London and refused to be extradited. The case has been put back for two weeks," the prosecutor said, adding that British police had acted on a European arrest warrant issued by a judge in Bergerac.

The man, known locally under the false name of Graham Templeton, is accused of fleecing some EUR 350 thousand from seven foreigners and two French women in the region between 2000 and 2004. He also claimed he is a diplomat and works with 

the Europol Police Department.

Local newspaper which described him as "a smooth-talking 40-something-year-old", said he had arrived in the Dordogne in 1999 and settled in quickly, making friends among the region's community of expatriate retirees.

Homing in on wealthy, he offered his victims returns of up to 15 percent on bogus investments based in the Channel Islands, managing to swindle 300,000 euros out of one of the retirees.

All the cheques were made out to the bank, but were in fact paid directly into the man's personal account.

An investigation for fraud and forgery was opened and a warrant issued for the man's arrest, after the victims took legal action against him last June, according to the prosecutor's office in Bergerac.

The victims have also taken legal action for failing to block the fraudulent transactions.

A lawyer for the bank said the man appeared to have used a forged letterhead to set up the scam, and that an investigation was under way.