Conman Foster given a week to surrender

Fugitive conman Peter Foster has been given a week to hand himself in or his legal bid to overturn a prison sentence will be thrown out.

A Federal Court judge in Brisbane ordered Foster surrender himself to court authorities or police by 4pm (AEST) on March 25, 2014, or the 51-year-old's appeal would be dismissed.

Foster, who claims to be hiding in Fiji, was sentenced to three years' jail in October last year for ignoring a court order banning him from participating in the weight-loss industry.

He was found to have been involved in the sale of the bogus SensaSlim oral weight-loss spray in 2009 and 2010, following proceedings brought by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

When Foster failed to appear in court for the charges, a warrant was issued for his arrest and he has been on the run since.

The conman appealed his prison sentence from in hiding, which prompted the ACCC to launch a counter application to dismiss the appeal.

On Tuesday, Justice John Dowsett said if Foster didn't hand himself in within a week, not only would the appeal be dismissed but the fugitive would be liable for the ACCC's legal costs.