A Peruvian woman has reportedly confessed to faking her pregnancy and kidnapping to swindle nearly GBP 40,000 from her millionaire partner.
The alleged scam started when Colombian businessman Nicolas Urrutia contacted the police in the district of San Juan de Lurigancho in the Peruvian capital Lima to report the abduction of his partner last Tuesday, 19th October.
He told officers that the ‘victim’, identified as Anali Pilar Luna Talavera, 37, was also pregnant.
He showed the police a photo of the woman tied to a chair with duct tape over her mouth that allegedly came with the warning: “Let’s make something clear. I have your woman and daughter and if you want to see them again, I need you to give me PEN 200,000 (GBP 36,602).”
The police immediately launched an investigation and searched the area, but to no avail.
Last Thursday, 21st October, Anali showed up at the police station to confirm that she had been kidnapped and to give her account of the story, according to the news site Publimetro.
She reportedly told the police that she was kidnapped while on her way to a local clinic to undergo surgery.
She also claimed that her captors tried to induce labour because they wanted to steal her child and she even showed officers the spot where she said she was abducted, according to Publimetro.
However, the police began to suspect Anali’s statement when they contacted the clinic where she was due to have surgery and were told that she did not have an operation booked.
The clinic also told the police that she was not pregnant as she had undergone a Bilateral Tubal Ligation (BTL) surgical procedure to prevent her ova (eggs) from being fertilised many years ago.
According to Publimetro, the woman subsequently confessed that she had made up the story because she hoped to scam PEN 200,000 from her millionaire partner.
The investigation is ongoing.