A woman at the centre of an international police hunt over a wealthy missing London businessman has been detained by Turkish police.

Detectives in London and Turkey have been looking into the background of Berna Ozdogan, 35, since Zia Abdolrazaghi, 64, a rug importer, failed to come back from a trip he took with her in October.

Separately, Australian police also want question Ms Ozdogan over the alleged attempted poisoning of an elderly Sydney millionaire.

Three days after flying to Turkey with Mr Abdolrazaghi, Ms Ozdogan returned alone claiming they were engaged to be married.

Brandishing a document ostensibly signed by Mr Abdolrazaghi granting her power of attorney, she put his £750,000 North London home up for sale as well as his £50,000 Mercedes and all his belongings. His former wife managed to stop the sale by getting a High Court ruling in her favour.

Two days after Ms Ozdogan gave British police a witness statement regarding the disappearance of the father of two, she flew back to Turkey where she has a two-floor penthouse apartment and where her mother lives. Britain does not have an extradition treaty with Turkey.

When police questioned a solicitor in Turkey about the power of attorney documents, he told them that the man who signed them was not Mr Abdolrazaghi.

A senior source connected to the international investigation told The Times: "We are really concerned for the welfare of Mr Abdolrazaghi and fear that he may be dead.

"Ms Ozdogan is a very pretty woman who has a very colourful background."

Last week she was detained for questioning by the smuggling and organised crime department of Ankara police. She was later released without charge, but banned from travelling abroad.

Local media reported that she owns property worth 1.9 million lira (£650,000), a Mercedes and another one million lira (£340,000) of savings, all of which she was in the process of making over to her brother when police arrested her at a lawyer’s office.

Looking into her background while investigating a series of alleged deceptions, Metropolitan Police officers found an allegation from Murray Bridle, an Australian millionaire, who had become friends with Ms Ozdogan in 2004, while she was going through a divorce.

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