Ekaterina Barrett entered a London shop owner's life. Then things took a strange, expensive turn

Ekaterina Barrett was a familiar sight in Mayfair and Monaco - some of Europe's most exclusive addresses. The apparent multi-millionaire loved high fashion, and wore flamboyant designer clothes while walking her Italian greyhounds. She was known for gambling in casinos and spending big money in high-end boutiques. But she was also someone who could "get you to do things you would never do", says British shop owner Bridget Hutchcroft. Hutchcroft - who is owed more than £1.6m ($2.1m) by Barrett - is one of many former friends and associates who accuse the 69-year-old of being a fraudster. Eight years on, Hutchcroft has engaged lawyers to pursue Barrett in Lichtenstein, Austria, Monaco and Israel - but the debt remains outstanding. And Barrett's glamorous life appears to be unravelling. For Bridget Hutchcroft, the financial conflict began with a simple favour: dog-sitting. Hutchcroft runs a second-hand designer clothes shop in Knightsbridge, London, called Pandora Dress Agency. It's well-loved and unpretentious, with Chanel and Dior handbags dangling from the ceiling, and shelves of crystal-embellished heels. Hutchcroft, 66, took over the business in the late 1980s and grafted to make