A total of nine people were kidnapped in Colombia by victims of pyramid schemes, authorities said Saturday.
According to Harlan Henao Serna, director of the government agency in charge of keeping track on kidnappings, the “collapse” of some of the pyramids led to “unexpected reactions” by those who had invested money in the fraudulent schemes.
Police already arrested 18 pyramid victims on kidnapping charges and kidnappers are trying to recover close to 13 million pesos (US$6 thousand) with the nine people currently held captive, Henao told Spanish press agency Efe.
The government official said the number of kidnappings had gone up in the second half of 2008, when the government actively started shutting down alleged ponzi schemes and others collapsed, in areas where these financial schemes had many investors.
“It is unfortunate that good citizens end up being investigated for kidnapping, because they turned to desperate forms in the hurry to recuperate their investment.”