US judge kidnapped and held for $36,000 ransom after hiring two prostitutes while on vacation in Rio de Janeiro: four suspects are in custody, including two men who posed as police officers
- A United States judge was kidnapped and held for ransom in Rio de Janeiro on Monday
- The judge had met two prostitutes, Shayna Monteiro and Beatriz Freitas, whom he had known during his previous visits to the Brazilian city, according to the police.
- The women visited the apartment he rented in the Rio de Janeiro neighborhood of Copacabana and left around 11:30 a.m. on Monday.
- They returned about an hour later with two men, Erivaldo da Silva and Alef dos Santos, lied to the judge about being cops and told him the women were underage.
- The armed suspects told the judge he would be arrested and contacted her friend in town to demand a $36,000 ransom.
- A meeting place was set up in Copacabana with da Silva, who was arrested and led police to the judge, who was rescued without incident
An American judge vacationing in Rio de Janeiro hired two prostitutes before being kidnapped and held for ransom by two men posing as police officers.
The magistrate, whose name has not been released by Brazilian authorities, arrived at the tourist hotspot on July 3, according to police reports.
The judge said he knew the two women, identified as Shayna Monteiro and Beatriz Freitas, from his previous trips to Rio de Janeiro. He reached out to the women and invited them to an apartment he was renting in the Copacabana area on Monday.
Monteiro and Freitas left the apartment around 11:30 a.m. but returned an hour later, accompanied by Erivaldo da Silva and Alef dos Santos, who followed them into the judge’s block and identified themselves as civilian police. .
Once inside the apartment, da Silva and dos Santos claimed that the women were underage and that he was under arrest.
Two prostitutes hired by a US judge were recorded inside an elevator with one of the two men posing as a police officer before the magistrate was abducted from the Rio de Janeiro apartment on Monday that he rented
Two men posing as police enter an elevator before kidnapping a US judge in Rio de Janeiro on Monday. The suspects demanded a $36,000 ransom for the judge’s release before one of them met the magistrate’s friend to collect the money and was immediately arrested.
Two prostitutes hired by an American judge and having played a role in his kidnapping are escorted by a cop to a police station in Rio de Janeiro
The men then contacted a friend of the judge who lives in Rio de Janeiro and told her they would take her to a police station in the northern zone of Rio, but demanded a ransom for her release.
Several hours of negotiations passed with no ransom payment agreed before they agreed on a payment of $36,000.
The woman contacted a member of the military police service and, with the help of a police kidnapping unit, was able to arrange a meeting point.
Authorities in Rio de Janeiro are still looking for two men linked to the kidnapping of a US judge on Monday, including an individual who was spotted in the lobby of the building where the magistrate was staying after arriving in the city for his vacation on July 3.
Da Silva returned to Copacabana to collect the ransom when authorities arrested him.
He then led the cops to the judge’s guardhouse. He was rescued without incident.
Da Silva, who was also identified as the leader of a gang that operates in the western area of Rio and was on parole for serving 24% of a 15-year sentence for illegal possession of a firearm and association criminals, was charged with extortion and kidnapping.
Charges for Monteiro, Freitas and dos Santos are still pending.
Authorities are still looking for two men, one of whom was filmed on camera in the lobby of the judge’s building.
“The well-being and safety of American citizens abroad is one of the State Department’s highest priorities,” a State Department spokesperson told DailyMail.com. “We are aware of these reports. For confidentiality reasons, we have no further comments.
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