Man fakes kidnapping to pay off debts
DOUGLASDALE - A man (34) faked his own kidnapping in order to extract money from his family.
According to Warrant Officer Balan Muthan, head of communications for the Douglasdale police, the man, who cannot be named due to an ongoing investigation, waited until his wife and two small children had left home to visit relatives in Phoenix, KwaZulu-Natal before sending them a SMS to say he was in trouble.
Muthan said the man sent his wife a message to say he had been kidnapped in Turfontein by casino loan sharks who wanted him to pay them R1 million.
The man asked his wife to gather as much money as she could from their family members, so he could at least give the loan sharks something to dissuade them from killing him.
The man’s wife, who was distraught at the situation, called the Douglasdale police and reported her husband had been kidnapped.
The Douglasdale police initiated a manhunt to find the kidnapped man and even deployed the Gauteng Flying Squad to search for him.
After a day of searching, on 15 October the Douglasdale detectives traced the man back to his home in Northriding and barged in to find him fast asleep in his own bed.
The man confessed to lying about being kidnapped in order to extract money from his family to pay off gambling debts. The man also admitted to having a gambling addiction.
Muthan said lying about a kidnapping was an extremely serious matter as the state could go to the extent of recouping, from the man, all the funds that were spent trying to find him.
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