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" catch me if you can.": Serhani sends a postcard from the edge.

One top PR firm with offices in Sydney and Melbourne begged the Shuttle not to mention it's name after the tale came out of the "Saudi Prince" they had help promote briefly. They too are clutching a handful of unpaid invoices after Frenchman Abdelkarim Serhani slipped out of Australia and is claiming to be in New Zealand. Yeh, sure.

Serhani, 28 left reputedly owing the luxury resort Hamilton Island in QLD $42,000 of unpaid hotel bills and that included $20,000 on champagne. Not to mention the 2 bottles of Dom Perignon which he walked out of an Airlie Beach bottle shop clutching when the manager was distracted by a phone call. But perhaps he was just absent-minded.

Serhani initially left by helicopter to the mainland, was briefly detained but released after successfully fooling locals he was a "Saudi prince' complete with bodyguards. Those bodyguards, from a local security firm are also keen to speak to the 26 year old Frenchman described as "cool, immaculately dressed, well mannered and with an air of flamboyance".

Browned-off Aussies can relax. They aren't the only ones to be taken in as the Belgian newspaper La Derniere Heure reported earlier this year that a local hotel had supplied him with beautiful women, a Ferrari, a limousine and six days' worth of champagne. Look to your local phone book for Interpol's number.