New Zealander on FBI’s most wanted fugitives list arrested in Spain

A New Zealand man on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list has been arrested in Madrid, Spanish police have confirmed.

Michael James Prattoriginally from Christchurch, was named on the FBI’s most wanted list in september.

Spain’s National Police confirmed that after “a year of exhaustive searches,” Pratt had been arrested at a Madrid hotel, where he had been staying under one of several false identities he had used to avoid arrest.

Police shared a video on Twitter of the moment they arrested the 40-year-old.

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* Ex-Christchurch man on FBI’s most wanted list over porn scandal involving at least 20 women

Between 2012 and 2019, Pratt and others allegedly deceived more than 20 young women, including minors, into appearing in sex videos under the guise of being clothed models, according to the FBI.

When the women learned that the jobs were actually for pornographic productions, Pratt paid other women to act as “bait” and give false assurances that the videos would not be posted online.

The women were told the videos were for a private collector abroad and would remain anonymous.

“Some women would not be allowed to leave the shooting locations until the videos were completed, others would have been forced to perform sexual acts they refused, and some women would have been sexually assaulted.”

The videos were posted on Pratt’s porn websites, which generated more than $17 million in revenue.

He was sentenced to life imprisonment in the United States for it crimes of child pornographysexual exploitation, assault and illicit gain.

The FBI had offered $100,000 for information leading directly to his arrest.

Pratt was the “single major player” in a still-running porn scandal, Renee Green, FBI supervising special agent in San Diego, said in September.

The arrest was carried out by the European Network of Fugitive Active Search Teams Network (ENFAST) in collaboration with the FBI, US Marshals and the OCN Interpol Madrid.