Man fakes own abduction to extort mum

MADRID: A 21-year-old Spanish man has been arrested for faking his own kidnapping to try to extort €600 (about RM2,760) from his mother to pay a debt, police said Monday.

The mother reported to police in Parla, a Madrid suburb, on Thursday that she had received text messages demanding she leave the money at a secret location “if she wanted to see her son again and live in peace”, police said in a statement.

She went to the authorities despite being warned in the messages not to speak to police.

Authorities found the young man several hours later in Parla. He told officers his captors had released him and he had not been hurt.

“Once in police custody the young man began to give imprecise and contradictory information until he finally admitted that he had made everything up to settle a debt,” the statement said.

Police then detained the man and charged him with simulating a crime. – AFP