[imagesource:archana/pexels]

The Western Cape Multi-disciplinary Kidnapping Task Team has busted a man this week who tried to extort money from his family by faking his kidnapping.

According to reports the man, a foreign national, “needed money for gambling”.

The 25-year-old man’s brother first alerted police after receiving a message from an anonymous number demanding money for his return.

Police spokesperson Captain Frederick van Wyk said the man’s brother received the message around six o’clock the morning. ‘He found a message indicating his brother had been kidnapped and the suspects were demanding a ransom amount between R4,000 and R5,000 for his safe return,’ said van Wyk. ‘They also said they took the [rent] money and the cellphone of the captive and were in the Khayelitsha area’.

The ‘kidnapped’ man was last seen on Tuesday, 2 January, when he left his residence in David Venda Street in the Betterlife section of Philippi East to deposit rent money into a Shoprite account nearby. Needless to say, the rent wasn’t paid.

The suspect’s wife also received a ransom demand from a different number later the day. The ransom amount had by then increased to R15,000, which the family paid via e-wallet a week later, on Tuesday, 9 January.

The following day, the man returned home after which he broke down and admitted to staging the whole kidnapping with the help of a friend. The family understandably didn’t take his admission too well, and the police were contacted. The guy is now being held at Philippi East Police Station and will appear in court today.

This is one gamble that the oke lost, and it’s cost him his family and freedom. The house wins every time.

[source:capetownetc]