A 25-year-old man from Philippi in Cape Town has appeared in Athlone Magistrate’s Court today facing charges of staging his own kidnapping. The suspect who is a foreign national was given money by his brother on 02 January deposit at Shoprite for their landlord.
Instead of paying the rent, the man gambled the money, after losing, he kidnapped himself as a way of getting more money from his brother. Western Cape Multi-Disciplinary Kidnapping Task Team arrested a 25-year-old on Thursday 11 January.
Captain Frederick van Wyk the accused who lives in David Venda Street, Better Life in Philippi returned home after his family paid R15 000 ransom money. He said at first, on the day the accused man disappeared, “kidnappers” sent a message to his brother and wife’s brother demanding R5000.
When they couldn’t pay the money, the amount increased to R15 000 which they paid on 09 January leading to the return of the man on 10 January.
“Reports reveal that the brother never returned home on the 02 January 2024 and the ransom demand amount was increased to R15 000. On 09 January 2024 the family decided on the R15 000 ransom demand and made the payment via e-wallet.
“On 10 January 2024 the afternoon, the captive came back home and admitted that he and his friend staged the kidnapping as they wanted to extort money from his family. He further stated that he used the rent money for gambling,” said Van Wyk.
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