Aparecida Schunk Flosi Palmeira (C), mother-in-law of Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone, arrives at the Homicide and People Protection Delegation of the Brazilian Police, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, early July 31, 2016.
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Jorge Eurico da Silva Faria, who until past year was president of the Brazilian Association of Helicopter Pilots and who was in charge of Formula One Brazil’s helicopter operations until 2014, was arrested in an apartment in a wealthy area of Sao Paulo, close to where Aparecida Schunck, was found.
Flosi married Bernie Ecclestone in 2012, three years after meeting at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Bernie Ecclestone’s mother-in-law, who had been kidnapped in Brazil for a ransom of £28 million, has been freed, according to police.
Her ordeal was brought to an end apparently without a ransom being paid after police officers stormed a hideout in the nearby city of Cotia last night and found Ms Schunk tied up.
Police believe the suspects knew the family was waiting for a furniture delivery, and that is why the family’s housekeeper opened the door, according to local reports.
Schunck said of her kidnappers, per the BBC report: “I only ask for these bandits to be jailed so they can’t abduct anyone else in Sao Paulo”. Two men reportedly were arrested.
Schunck’s kidnappers struck just days before Rio de Janeiro hosts South America’s first Olympic Games from August 5 to 21.
“That’s important, because that discourages kidnapping”, said Alckmin, adding “we have the country’s best police”.
The “mastermind” behind the kidnapping “did not show surprise” when he was arrested Monday, Magino Alves Barbosa Filho, the Sao Paulo secretary of public safety, said in a statement.
The other two suspects, men ages 23 and 19, were arrested Sunday on kidnapping charges.
Abductors impersonating shipment men abducted her from her house in the Jardin Santa Helena location of southern Sao Paulo, neighbors told AFP last week. The 67-year-old woman appears to be visibly shaken.
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Foreign athletes, media and visitors have reported thefts and robberies in the crime-plagued host city.
