British fraudster Mark Acklom and Spanish conman Jose Estevez were spotted together in Geneva, Switzerland, drinking coffee back in May.
Acklom, 44, has not been since since 2012 after he posed as a spy and Swiss banker to seduce 57-year-old divorcee Carolyn Woods out of her life savings before fleeing.
He allegedly promised to marry her after they met in a clothes shop in Tetbury, Gloucestershire, before persuading her to lend him all her savings to help his “cash-flow” problems.
Estevez, 50, fled Spain after he was jailed for ripping off government departments in Vigo, northwest Spain, by submitting false invoices of up to £9.9million.
Reacting to the news, Former Metropolitan Police border control officer Chris Hobbs said no border controls meant criminals could operate in a “huge playground”.
He told Sky News: “If you’ve got no borders you’ve got a huge playground, the whole of Europe in which to operate in, work in and hide in.
“And obviously you can’t expect local police to know everybody who is wanted in Europe.
“So they will know the odds of them actually being detected anywhere in Europe are pretty remote.
“I think the nature of their offences suggests they are confident, as they have obviously been confidently conning people out of huge sums of money. They know the odds are stacked against them being recognised.”
It is not known whether the pair knew each other before they went on the run last year.
The pictures were taken by an alleged victim of Acklom who said he recognised him as he walked past a cafe near Lake Geneva.
British authorities believed Acklom was in Spain, where he was running a property company.
Swiss Police launched a surveillance operation after contacting the UK’s National Crime Agency, but the runaways did not reappear.
Avon and Somerset Police confirmed they are investigating Acklom using a European Arrest Warrant.
A force spokesman added: “Our search for Mark Acklom continues and, as always, anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call police as soon as possible.”