Daughter fakes her kidnapping to get €50,000 ransom from mom – again, Spain cops say

A file photo of a kidnap victim. A woman faked her own kidnapping in an attempt to extort her mom out of €50,000 (RM225,238) – for the fourth time, according to authorities in Spain. — Image by suksao on Freepik

A woman faked her own kidnapping in an attempt to extort her mom out of €50,000 (RM225,238) – for the fourth time, according to authorities in Spain.

The mother received a video seeming to show her daughter being held hostage, a Sept 5 news release from Spain’s Civil Guard said. In the video, the daughter was blindfolded and gagged with a knife held to her neck, with what appeared to be a bit of blood by her mouth.

“If you want to see me alive, you have to pay them,” she says in the video, according to El Pais. She also says that her captors beat her, the outlet reported.

Previously, the mom had received three letters threatening her daughter’s life and demanding money, authorities said. In response to those demands, the mom had paid a total of €45,000 (RM202,759), the release said.

Officials investigated the video and located the daughter at a casino in Tenerife, moving about freely and unharmed, the release said.

They arrested the woman and four others, all members of her partner’s family, on charges of simulating a crime and extortion, the release said.

In a home search, officials found the handkerchief used in the video, a bottle of fake blood, and a large weapon.

Tenerife is a Spanish island about 200 miles off the northwest coast of Western Sahara.

Google Translate was used to translate the news release from Guardia Civil. – The Charlotte Observer/Tribune News Service