A man from the province of Barcelona, in Catalonia, Spain, has been arrested for faking his own kidnapping to extort money from his mother. According to reports from the Mossos d’Esquadra, the Catalan regional police force, the accused man demanded that his mother pay 2,500 euros (about $2,700) for his release by sending her a series of text messages to her cell phone on March 20, in which he claimed that he had been kidnapped and that she would be harmed if she did not agree to his demands.
The suspect’s mother went to a police station in the municipality of Sant Cugat del Vallès, where she reported the kidnapping. The Criminal Investigation Division took the case seriously and activated the usual resources for these situations. Investigators collected leads that led them to the neighboring town of Sabadell on March 21, where the person they were looking for had apparently been seen “while walking down the street.”
The agents confronted the man on a public street and found that he had not been deprived of his liberty. The detainee admitted having invented the kidnapping and having sent the messages to his mother to extort money to pay his personal debts. He was arrested and charged with simulating a kidnapping and “conditional threats for profit.” He was later released on charges after being taken to court.
The police warned that simulating such a serious crime carries criminal liability and is a waste of resources. This type of behavior is unacceptable and can be detrimental to the person involved as well as to the community at large.