Dutchman kidnapped in South Africa on internet scam
South African police have arrested six people for kidnapping a Dutchman who was lured to Johannesburg by an internet scam promising a lucrative scrap metal deal.
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Police say they staked out the house where the victim – whom they haven’t named -was held. The suspects are two South Africans and four Nigerians, who allegedly placed an internet ad for more than four million euros.
When the Dutch consultant’s company sent him to South Africa to investigate the deal, he was kidnapped on arrival and held hostage in a Johannesburg home.
The suspects telephoned Holland with the ransom demand of 10,000 euros paid into a British bank account, after which the victim was dropped off at the international airport in Johannesburg. Police say they then made the arrests.
Over the past decade, a number of foreigners have been duped into coming to South Africa purportedly for a business deal and then have been kidnapped.
In 2001, the former mayor of Northampton in Britain was rescued by an international police effort after getting a message to his wife.
In June 1999, Jean-Pierre Li Shing Tat, a Canadian national from Mauritius, was killed by kidnappers outside Johannesburg.
In September of that year, 65-year-old Norwegian millionaire, Kjetil Moc, was kidnapped and found murdered in South Africa after falling for a scam.
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