The National Police mounted a major search operation last month in El Ejido after the wife of a local businessman received a ransom demand of €50,000 for her husband, only to discover that the message were being sent by the supposed hostage to cover his illicit weekend away from his wife.
The woman received the messages from her husband’s phone, demanding immediate payment of the money, and threatening to cut off her husband’s fingers one by one if she did not pay up.
She alerted officers who started a search. Investigators quickly zoned in on the location of the mobile phone and an elite rescue team was sent.
But the rescuers were astonished to find the “kidnapped” man sitting quietly in his car by himself.
The man confessed to the police that he had faked his own kidnap after he went partying for a weekend without telling his wife and feared the consequences when he reappeared. He also admitted that he was planning to keep the €50,000 as a reserve fund, hidden from his spouse.
The man has been charged with wasting police time, along with two of his employees who were in on the scam. The police are seeking the reimbursement of the costs of the investigation.