Photo: Ryan Bayona/Flickr
The Federative Republic of Brazil is not the most welcoming country for the rich and famous, at least regarding the number of kidnappings per wealthy capita.
So it happens that none other than Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone's new mother-in-law has been abducted by criminals in Sao Paulo, with the kidnappers demanding a ransom of no less than 120 million reais (approximately $36,5 million).
According to Brazilian new magazine Veja, Aparecida Schunck, the mother of Fabiana Flosi, who is Ecclestone's latest wife, was kidnapped on Friday, although local police have yet to confirm or at least comment on the matter.
As most of you know, Bernie is likely the richest man in motorsport, since he is worth approximately $3.1 billion, so the motive behind the kidnapping is rather clear.
He married Fabiana Flosi, Schunck's daughter, in 2012, after meeting her at the Brazilian Grand Prix on multiple occasions. Aparecida Schunck was taken on Friday in the neighborhood of Interlagos, Sao Paulo.
Kidnappings were a lot more common in Brazil in the early noughties, when tens of people were being abducted for ransom every day, but only the equivalent of a few hundred U.S. dollars was usually asked by criminals.
The formation of a special police division dedicated to cracking down the number of abductions made things a little better from this point of view, but the risk has remained. Brazil is currently going through its biggest economic crisis in modern history, while next month is scheduled to host the 2016 Summer Olympics, despite ongoing concerns regarding an outbreak of the Zika virus, heavy pollution and increase of crime rates.
Neither Bernie, nor his wife Fabiana has issued any statements regarding the kidnapping so far, but we will keep you posted if the situation progresses. It's worth nothing that the vast majority of abductions in Brazil end without any violence against the victim, so hopefully this one improves those statistics.
According to Brazilian new magazine Veja, Aparecida Schunck, the mother of Fabiana Flosi, who is Ecclestone's latest wife, was kidnapped on Friday, although local police have yet to confirm or at least comment on the matter.
As most of you know, Bernie is likely the richest man in motorsport, since he is worth approximately $3.1 billion, so the motive behind the kidnapping is rather clear.
He married Fabiana Flosi, Schunck's daughter, in 2012, after meeting her at the Brazilian Grand Prix on multiple occasions. Aparecida Schunck was taken on Friday in the neighborhood of Interlagos, Sao Paulo.
Kidnappings were a lot more common in Brazil in the early noughties, when tens of people were being abducted for ransom every day, but only the equivalent of a few hundred U.S. dollars was usually asked by criminals.
The formation of a special police division dedicated to cracking down the number of abductions made things a little better from this point of view, but the risk has remained. Brazil is currently going through its biggest economic crisis in modern history, while next month is scheduled to host the 2016 Summer Olympics, despite ongoing concerns regarding an outbreak of the Zika virus, heavy pollution and increase of crime rates.
Neither Bernie, nor his wife Fabiana has issued any statements regarding the kidnapping so far, but we will keep you posted if the situation progresses. It's worth nothing that the vast majority of abductions in Brazil end without any violence against the victim, so hopefully this one improves those statistics.
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