Lee Andrews has returned to Instagram for the first time since he was released from a Dubai prison.
The businessman was thrown behind bars in Al Awir Central Prison in Dubai on fraud allegations last month, with his wife Katie Price declining to pay the six-figure sum needed to be paid for his release.
After Katie shared last week that Lee had finally been released, he returned to social media to post his first video on Tuesday.
Despite mounting evidence that fraud was the cause for his arrest, Lee insisted that he was imprisoned on suspicion of espionage.
The conman shamelessly sported the Just Released tagline on his post, and even added an AI-generated head of hair to the clip.
He said: ‘Hi everyone this is Lee I’ve been missing now for several weeks and I can now tell you I am now safe and healthy and with my wife.
Lee Andrews has returned to Instagram for the first time since he was released from a Dubai prison, sporting an AI-generated head of hair
The businessman was thrown behind bars in Al Awir Central Prison in Dubai on fraud allegations last month
‘I was taken by the Qatar border by the men, at gunpoint and was captured by men with assault rifles, they did slap me round a little bit, little s***s.’
‘From there I was taken to a black site where I had no use of my phone and from what I know, it was an extended arm of the National Guard and that is all I can reveal at the moment. I have signed disclaimers with state security and from there I was put into the system
‘At no point have I faced anything to do with fraud allegations or criminal activities.
‘So I’m sending these messages out to my loved ones and my beautiful wife, who without her help involving all the UK authorities, I don’t think I would have got out of that situation.
‘Because of the tensions and things happening in the region, and me being so close to the border, this is why I was suspected of espionage and held in a state security building without the use of a telephone or any rights to a shower, contact or to speak to any of my family including the embassy or my wife.
‘So, thank you to Katie for making such a noise, where the UAE actually listened and let me go.
‘From there, I did have a civil case in Dubai which led to me going into the mainstream prison during the Arabic holidays, Eid.
‘I was able to secure my release and I am here now, so thank you everyone for listening and love and blessings to everyone.’
After posting the video, Lee went on to share another AI-generated snap of himself and Katie together, while the glamour model wrote on her Stories: ‘My husband back.’
Lee was said to be desperately seeking to raise £140,000 for his release from prison and had pleaded with Katie to set up a GoFundMe.
After posting the video, Lee went on to share another AI-generated snap of himself and Katie together, while the glamour model wrote on her Stories: ‘My husband back’
In his first post since his release, Lee also sported a new AI-generated head of hair, no doubt hiding the impact of his time behind bars (pictured with his hair prior to his prison stint)
However, now, Katie revealed to The Sun on Friday that Lee has been released, as a friend said: ‘Lee is out’.
He FaceTimed Katie minutes after his release and she was thrilled to hear from her husband but was demanding answers to her questions after she refused to pay a penny of his £140,000 bail fine to get him out.
‘Of course she has heard the discourse surrounding him, and she’s not stupid. She knows the optics aren’t great if she stays with this man.
‘But as any woman who has been love-bombed knows, it’s hard to leave when you’re being treated so well. For whatever reason, she still loves him and is hugely physically attracted to him,’ added her friend.
‘But make no bones about it: Lee is a conman and a fraud and there must be consequences to his despicable actions. She must leave this man.’
The publication shared the first picture of Lee since he was released, as he wore a baseball cap, heavy tan and his usual cheery smile.
Katie’s representatives declined to comment when approached by the Daily Mail.
After learning her husband had been arrested for fraud, Katie flew to Dubai to be at his side and was prepared to spend £6,500 to release him after allegedly being told that was the fee required.
Yet when Katie arrived at the courthouse with her credit card in hand, she was told the fee would instead be £140,000 because Lee is involved in another case awaiting a court date, this time relating to property. Katie has declined to pay this figure.
Lee then reportedly asked his wife whether there was a fundraiser set up to raise money for his release.
In a phone conversation, Katie allegedly baulked at the suggestion and said: ‘No-one will do that for you, Lee, trust me. Everyone hates you.’
Meanwhile, sources told the Daily Mail that her family are growing increasingly concerned about her mental health and her children’s welfare.
The friend said: ‘Katie’s family are very close to her. And they are all very concerned for her.
‘She is spending too much time away from her kids, as well as being halfway around the world.’
And last month, during their podcast together, her sister Sophie made her feelings clear towards Lee after he failed to show up for the couple’s Good Morning Britain interview.
During their podcast, Katie insisted that Lee had told her he would be flying in for their GMB interview, and claimed that on Monday ‘he was at the airport and couldn’t get on the flight’ because of an issue with his visa.
She said she then ‘phoned the foreign office up and gave them Lee’s name and date of birth and they said that they had detained a British man’.
Sophie insisted, though, that ‘he is massively mugging you off and he has done it publicly on live TV’, to which Katie conceded: ‘I said to him “You’ve made me look a massive d**k, you’ve made yourself look a massive d**k”.
‘It’s now become a soap opera, some form of EastEnders of is he coming, isn’t he, it’s all been built up.’
Sophie was firm in her stance, telling her sister ‘I can’t even say his name, because he winds me up, I think he is a f**king d**khead on Instagram if I am honest and I think you deserve better Kate.’
Katie had confirmed she would not be giving Lee any money.
She told the Sun: ‘I’ve made it clear to Lee, I will never give him money, I’ll never give a man money, I’ve done it all my life, I’ve always been the breadwinner. My divorces, I’m the one that always has to give. I said to Lee I’ll never do it.’
Quizzed on whether she will be the breadwinner for Lee given he may not have the vast fortunes he claims, she hit back: ‘You don’t know that, I don’t know that.’
Katie had previously shared she was told she would have to pay £140,000 to get Lee out of prison, but has viewed paying the money as a reckless move.
She said: ‘This is real, this is real life; this is my life. It has been a tough few weeks, don’t get me wrong. But I’ve still stayed strong through it all, and I have a smile on my face.
‘So, in this situation, I’m doing what I want to do, and I’m out here in Dubai, because I’m here to help Lee.
‘Some people might not like my choices, but I’m not living for everyone else. I know people have been calling me stupid, I see all the trolling, I hear it. I am not stupid.’
Since Katie married Lee, two of his exes came forward telling the television personality to ‘run for the hills’ and not to give him any money.
His ex Crystal Janke, 40, claimed Lee hoodwinked her into handing over £123,000 to invest in his company, on the promise he could get a ‘return of £1million’.
Meanwhile, his ex-fiancée Alana Percival has also issued warnings on social media.
During her time in Dubai, Katie met with his ex Dina Taji, who warned her ‘face-to-face’ about the jailbird ‘conman’.
The Daily Mail revealed in January, shortly after the former glamour model’s shock wedding to the businessman, Lee took out a £200,000 mortgage in Dina’s name without her knowledge.
She then took legal action against him, resulting in Lee being slapped with a travel ban from Dubai.
Dina has refused to talk publicly about Lee’s underhand tactics, but agreed to meet up with the former Loose Women star to warn her about staying with her husband.
After the meeting, Katie said: ‘My eyes have been opened. I just need some time to think. I still cannot end things with Lee until I’ve spoken to him, but that was a lot.’
