Fred Goodwin said to be staying with Jackie Stewart in Switzerland

The whereabouts of the former Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive Sir Fred Goodwin, the most wanted man in Britain - by hungry paparazzi, angry shareholders and disillusioned taxpayers - has been a mystery since he vanished from his Edinburgh home a month ago amid the furore over his £700,000-a-year pension. As one shareholder put it at a meeting last week, after Goodwin refused to give up any of his pension, which will now have to be met from the public purse: "He's the biggest benefits scrounger in the country."

But his vanishing act may be short-lived: word reaches The First Post that Goodwin is holed up in Switzerland at the home on Lake Geneva of the former F1 racing champion, Sir Jackie Stewart.

These digs would make sense: Stewart is paid £1 million a year to be a "global ambassador" for RBS, a nice little earner he was given by Sir Fred before his downfall. (He is one of a number of sports personalities including tennis player Andy Murray and the Queen's horse-riding grand-daughter Zara Phillips to be taken on by Goodwin as part of a "sponsorship binge", as it was later described by critics.)

And Stewart has been a loyal supporter of the disgraced banker through his recent difficult patch. He used an interview with the Daily Express on Saturday to call for an end to criticism of Goodwin, saying that the "witch hunt" of the former chief executive could destroy the bank.

Stewart, a three-times former world champion, said: "It is absurd to blame one man. Some 75,000 people worked for RBS at one time. How can it be one man's fault? This is a global financial services problem."

Stewart, now 69, went on: "It isn't all about greed either. At the end of 2007, Sir Fred was applauded as the best banker in the world and the company made £11bn profit. Suddenly, he is the worst banker in the world. It is nonsense.

"If we are not careful, the Government and the media will bring down RBS to the extent where it will be seen as a lame duck and it won't be possible to rebuild it."

Which would be a terrible shame for Stewart who has already earned £1m from RBS for his "ambassadorial" work and stands to earn another £2m if the bank survives. In March, he agreed to forgo the payment this year while the bank sorts itself out. But he made it clear that he intends to resume the lucrative deal next year, for the remaining two years of the contract.

Stewart was talking to the Express from his home in the village of Begnins in Switzerland, where Goodwin is understood to have been staying with him.

He has lived in tax exile for many years; neighbours include current F1 drivers Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso as well as fellow former champions Michael Schumacher and Alain Prost.

Goodwin is thought to have moved on to Switzerland from Majorca, where he was staying when the Daily Record caught up with him by phone at the end of March after his Edinburgh home was vandalised. A Fleet Street picture editor recently said that a photograph of Goodwin "enjoying himself" would earn the photographer £30,000. Said Dave Ofield of the London Evening Standard: "He's currently worth more than Britney, maybe hovering around the Brad-and-Angelina-with-kids price." ·