Up to a dozen "wanted" posters have appeared in central London streets claiming that an Israeli-born man owes £1.5 million

The posters, headed "Wanted" in red capital letters, carry a picture of Arieh Buchwald (below). They state: "Mr Arieh Buchwald, also known as Mr B, owes over £1,500,000. A reward is offered for information that leads to the recovery of this money." This is followed by a mobile telephone number.

Tracked down by the JC, Mr Buchwald said: "I have nothing to say about this. I don't want to talk about it."

When asked about the posters, he replied: "They can do what they like. Let the court decide." In a second phone call, he repeated that he did not want to comment and then rang off.

Mr Buchwald, who is in his early 60s, is believed to have lived in Britain for around 20 years and worked in the financial sector. He has an address in London's West End.

The posters have been produced by Mike Lenny & Co, a firm of private investigators based in north west London. A spokesman said they were acting on behalf of a client from whom they had taken over the debt.

"This sum had built up over a six-year period from money loaned to Mr Buchwald for various purposes. We have a signed deed from our client to hand the debt to us entirely and we have a signed agreement from Mr Buchwald from 18 months ago saying he would pay the debt.

"But he is very elusive and we have been unable to serve papers on him, so we resorted to this method to see if this could lead us to him," added the spokesman.

So far, he said, there have not been any positive responses.