Kidnapping staged to extort cash from father

SENIOR garda are concerned there could be a spate of fake “tiger kidnappings” after they foiled a bid by a man to extort €50,000 from his father.

In a highly unusual robbery, a man staged his own kidnapping, with his girlfriend’s assistance, in an attempt to extort the money from his father in Dublin.

The scam was thwarted after the father, a businessman, reported the incident to gardaí, who set up a security and surveillance operation.

Officers became increasingly suspicious as they conducted inquiries into the son, who they discovered had a history of involvement in the drugs trade as a dealer and an addict.

When the father was due to hand over the money at a rendezvous point, armed gardaí moved in on the people waiting to collect it, and they turned out to be the son and another accomplice.

It was only at this stage that the father discovered his son, who is in his 30s, was involved in the scam.

Gardaí are investigating the theory that the son, who lives in Drogheda with his girlfriend, staged the kidnapping to pay off a debt to a local criminal.

Senior gardaí yesterday expressed concerned that the fake kidnapping might be copied by other people, but said they hoped the fact that they were able to foil this attempt might deter them.

Gardaí said the businessman was approached by his son’s girlfriend early on Wednesday afternoon at his place of work in Tallaght.

She told him that her boyfriend had been kidnapped and produced a photocopy of a photograph showing the son tied up and a masked man pointing a gun at his head.

She said she had received a telephone call from the kidnappers who said her partner’s life would be in danger if €50,000 was not handed over.

When the woman left, the businessman immediately alerted the local gardaí. A major operation was set up, involving the Emergency Response Unit and the National Surveillance Unit.

Inquiries were conducted in Tallaght and Drogheda. Gardaí had no reason to doubt the tiger kidnapping was anything but genuine, but slowly became suspicious after they discovered the son was involved in the drugs trade.

The businessman, operating under the advice of gardaí, was in contact with the kidnappers throughout the day in order to arrange a rendezvous point.

Just after midnight, the son and his accomplice, in his late 20s, were arrested by gardaí at the rendezvous point in Tallaght.

They were detained at Tallaght Garda Station under section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act, which allows for a maximum detention period of three days.

The girlfriend, in her mid-20s, was arrested in Drogheda and taken to the local station and detained under the same legislation.