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.

Ekaterina Barrett (left) and Bridget Hutchcroft (right) became friends after meeting in Hutchcroft's shop

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 it a success. Back in 2017, Barrett was an occasional client, someone with whom Hutchcroft had barely spoken.

Barrett was known to be "very bossy", with a "pay-attention-to-me, deal-with-me type of attitude", says Sona Patel, the shop manager.

The first time they properly met, Hutchcroft thought Barrett looked wealthy but nothing out of the ordinary for that part of town.

One summer's day Hutchcroft says she noticed Barrett struggling to park her Bentley on the narrow side street - she usually had a driver.

When Barrett came into the shop, Hutchcroft says Barrett was flustered and told her she needed someone to look after the dogs while she went to Harrods.

Hutchcroft offered to help.

"And then after that Ekaterina said: 'You must come to my house. I will send my car.'"

Over the next few months, Hutchcroft started making regular trips to Barrett's Mayfair apartment to look after the dogs.

Walking them in nearby Hyde Park felt like "good therapy", Hutchcroft says. She was recovering from a breakdown and had been recently diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

She began spending a lot more time with Barrett.

Hutchcroft runs a second-hand designer clothes shop in Knightsbridge, London

"It was a bit looser than a friendship - it was more intrigue," says Hutchcroft, noting Barrett appeared to love playing the VIP in fashion houses and members' clubs.

"It was like being at the theatre - I wanted to know what would happen next."

Then, three months after the two women first met, things took a strange turn.

Hutchcroft says she found Barrett sobbing uncontrollably, saying the man who managed her business affairs had suddenly died.

She says Barrett told her she needed a short-term loan due to a temporary cash flow issue.

Hutchcroft says she was happy to help at first, but the requests kept coming. She says Barrett began begging and pleading. All this at a time when Hutchcroft was swinging between episodes of mania and depression.

"She creates this havoc around you," says Hutchcroft, who remembers her phone ringing constantly.

"So in the end you just say, 'OK, OK, I'll help you'. I never even thought she might not give it back."

The loans kept adding up, and eventually topped more than £1m ($1.3m) - money Hutchcroft says was in her account after a property sale and which was earmarked to fund her grandson's education, pay a tax bill and facilitate her retirement.

It was only after an intervention from friends - and as her mental health began to stabilise - that she realised how much money she had transferred.

Hutchcroft went to the police, but was told they wouldn't investigate as it was a civil matter.

So she engaged a lawyer and sued.

Barrett often wore flamboyant outfits

"I worked for everything I've got since the age of 15," says Hutchcroft, who grew up in a working-class household in Stalybridge, Greater Manchester. "So I'm not gonna let some rich woman take my money off me."

Hutchcroft - who now believes Barrett took advantage of her mental health problems to manipulate her into parting with her money - had no idea what she was getting into.