Former Brookside actor Philip Foster has been jailed after being extradited back to the UK over a multi-million pound modelling scam. Foster, 51, had lived in the south of Spain for at least 15 years while defrauding thousands of people through fake modelling agencies.
He was sentenced in absence to eight-and-a-half years in February 2025 following a UK Trading Standards investigation and was later named on the National Crime Agency's (NCA) most wanted list. Foster, known for his role as villain Christian Wright in the Channel 4 soap during the 1990s, was held by the Guardia Civil in Torrevieja, Spain.
Arrest and extradition
Armed police probing an unconnected murder in the same town arrested Foster after their investigations revealed he was wanted by British authorities. After his identity was confirmed, a search of his home was carried out and €22,000 and several false documents were seized.
Foster was extradited back to the UK on October 8 and has since been held at HMP Wormwood Scrubs in London. Appearing via video link from the prison for a sentencing hearing at Sheffield Crown Court, it was heard how Foster remained on the run in Spain due to grief after the alleged murder of his son around Christmas 2025 and the death of his wife in May this year.
Court hearing
Anthony Barraclough, defending, told the court: "His answer to why he did not [hand himself in] is that he was grieving. It was made even worse by the fact his son, Michael, was murdered around Christmas time last year. Spanish police has placed a secrecy act on the case and questioned him about it after his recent arrest."
Foster's wife, Nicola Jones, who was at times a co-defendant during the case, died in May due to a long-term illness. She is believed to have had cancer. During the hearing, which lasted approximately 15 minutes, it was heard how Foster was initially released on bail to be with his ill wife, but when he was requested to attend court for sentencing, he had fled the country.
Addressing Foster, Judge David Dixon said: "You're a coward who decided to hide and not come to face the music." He added: "You lived the high life in the photos wearing expensive watches and standing on an expensive yacht."
Foster admitted to absconding and failing to surrender to bail and had his sentence confirmed by Judge Dixon who told him he "played the system" before being handed a further six months to his eight-and-a-half year sentence. Foster thanked the judge as the hearing ended.
The scam
Foster was previously unmasked as the leading figure behind a string of sham modelling agencies that defrauded thousands of people out of around £13.5m. More than 6,000 victims were deceived by the group - mainly young people and mothers - who ended up parting with substantial amounts of money under the false promise of securing paid modelling work.
He reaped the benefits of the scam by living a life of luxury, enjoying spoils including flash cars and a gold Rolex. His son, Michael, was also involved in the scam and smuggled significant amounts of cash out to his dad in Spain.
Foster's network of sham agencies and photography studios spread across the country including London, Manchester, Leeds, Bristol, Coventry, and Nottingham. Victims were invited to a 'free' test shoot at the photographic studio, which turned out to be a ruse to try to extort money out of them. At the test shoot, victims were given a studio experience, handed glossy brochures and told how successful other people had been. They would then be told that they passed their studio test and that modelling agencies were interested, but they needed to purchase their portfolio photographs from the studio in order to join an agency.
Millions of pounds was taken from aspiring models, with some coerced into financing the upfront payment through credit deals arranged by the fraudsters or taking out expensive payday loans. Instead, victims received poor quality digital photographs that stood no real chance of landing them professional jobs. Virtually none of the victims received any paid modelling work. The sham agencies were often dissolved after short periods, rebranded repeatedly to avoid detection, and paid no tax.
Rick Jones, NCA deputy director international, said: "Foster's arrest demonstrates the continued success of the most wanted campaign and our commitment to tracking down criminals wanted by UK law enforcement. I would like to recognise the dedicated work of our colleagues in the Guardia Civil who made this arrest possible. The NCA, alongside law enforcement partners will continue to do all we can to ensure fugitives are returned to face justice."
