Traunstein, Germany - Germany has been shocked by a bizarre
pair of kidnappings in recent months - both allegedly carried out by
pensioners.
In the most recent case, four elderly Bavarians last week
confessed to abducting a businessman, in an apparent attempt to
recoup millions of dollars lost in the global financial crisis.
The two German couples plus an American, all aged between 60 and
79, have been charged with kidnapping after allegedly holding the
American businessman in a cellar for four days in an attempt to
recover 2.4 million euros (3.3 million dollars) of foreign
investments.
The incident began on Tuesday last week, when two of the elderly
men allegedly assaulted the American businessman at his apartment in
the town of Speyer, south of Frankfurt.
They allegedly gagged and bound the man, aged 56, and bundled him
into the boot of their car, driving him almost 500 kilometres to
their home.
Once there, they are accused of locking him in the cellar of a
house for four days and threatened to kill him if he didn't return
the invested funds.
The pensioners refused to believe the victim's claim that
the money was irretrievable, and their alleged assault left him with
two broken ribs.
After a failed escape attempt during a cigarette break, his
captors eventually allowed the man to make a phone call, supposedly
to release the funds. Instead, the victim was able to alert a friend
who in turn contacted the police.
The man was rescued in a dramatic police operation, as officers
stormed the house on Saturday morning. All five alleged captors were
arrested, and admitted to the crime during lengthy interrogations on
Sunday.
Kidnapping carries a maximum prison sentence of up to 15 years in
Germany.
In the previous incident last month, a 66-year-old man and his
59-year-old wife kidnapped an 83-year old retired notary, after years
of legal wrangling over the foreclosure of a plot of land in the town
of Starnberg, south of Munich.
A special police unit finally freed the 83-year-old man from the
couple's cellar, after he phoned his daughter to state the couple's
demands, and she in turn contacted the police.
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