A Belgian barber was kidnapped and held captive by a gang who tried to extort money from him thinking he was a crypto-billionaire, The Times newspaper has reported.
The 21-year-old stylist was befriended by Davina Raaymakers, 20, on Instagram. She invited him to spend a weekend with her in at a luxury flat in London, believing him to be a wealthy cryptocurrency dealer.
According to The Times, the young Belgian travelled to the UK capital in May last year and met up with Raaymakers.
After telling him the luxury flat was unavailable, she took him to a bedsit in west London, where a gang of kidnappers, including Raaymaker’s boyfriend Adlan Haji, were lying in wait.
The men reportedly took his phone, passport and wallet and told him to transfer half a million pounds (around €570,000) from his crypto account.
However, it soon became clear to the kidnappers that the victim’s wealth wasn’t as impressive as they had been led to believe. In fact, he held only £6.71 (around €7.70) in cryptocurrency.
Metropolitan Police alerted by a friend
The gang forced him to call a friend in Belgium asking for more money, but the friend had the good sense to alert the London Metropolitan Police to what was happening.
The following morning, the gang released the young Belgian and he travelled to St Pancras International Railway Station, where he was met by police officers.
He then led them back to the flat, which turned out to be an Airbnb rental. Officers quickly identified members of the gang by tracing their Airbnb accounts.
In a hearing at Isleworth Crown Court in west London, Raaymakers, Haji and two other men admitted blackmail. The Times reports that they will be sentenced at a later date.
