A British man who flew to the Dominican Republic to meet his online girlfriend only to be turned down for being cash-strapped has become the island’s new celebrity. The Welshman is now stranded in the country.
Glyn Thomas Bailey has become the new star of the Caribbean after his supposed virtual girlfriend, mum-of-four Wilfa Soto Peguero, posted a video online pleading for someone to help her get rid of him.
Peguero claims she had agreed to meet Bailey after talking to him for six months over the internet with the help of Google Translate.
She said he had admitted he was not wealthy, but claimed he could still help raise her children, including two daughters who are still living with her.
But when Peguero went to pick Bailey up from the airport, she found he had no return ticket or cash with him.
She said: “I asked him to send me money, so I could go and fetch him from the airport – and he never sent me anything.”
“But as he was coming to meet me I couldn't just abandon him like he was a nobody so I decided to borrow money to go to the airport.
“Later, when I checked his ticket, I realised he'd come with the intention of staying here and I can't look after him.
“I have explained it to him a thousand ways. If I had my own house I'd let him stay, but I don't.”
Peguero went on to caution women resorting to online dating, saying: “I’m making this video for many young people, for many women, so that they learn from what happened to me and don’t try to find love online.
“That was a mistake I made and won’t make again. I’ve got my heart and I’m not going to refuse him food when he’s not giving me any money, but I can’t look after him.”
Local media reported that the British Embassy in the capital, Santo Domingo, has agreed to help out the British citizen after he undergoes hospital check-ups.
A spokesperson for The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: “Our staff in the Dominican Republic are offering assistance to a British man and are in contact with the local authorities.”
Peguero later told a local TV station that she was not seeking men for money, but that they “simply got to know each other chatting over the Internet.”