Betting shop bug ends in kidnap plot as staff turn ransom artists

Computer glitch spawns duplicate jackpots, disgruntled punters, and one very bad career choice

A computer glitch in a Spanish betting shop triggered a chain of events that ended with the store manager being kidnapped and held for €50,000 ($58,000) in ransom, allegedly by one of the shop's own employees.

Spanish police said the shop manager was rescued unharmed just 90 minutes after two kidnappers grabbed them following a software fault that generated duplicate winning bets at the Málaga shop. Two suspects are now in custody.

Punters briefly believed they'd hit a modest jackpot, but their excitement curdled when company management declined to honor the erroneous double payouts. That refusal set the scheme in motion.

One of the suspected kidnappers was a security guard at the shop itself, say police. They added that one of the arrestees and an unidentified accomplice are accused of positioning themselves as intermediaries acting on behalf of the disgruntled customers, claiming they would personally reimburse those the company had left empty-handed, provided the company handed over the cash first.

To build pressure, say the cops, the pair allegedly surveilled the shop manager: tracking their movements and obtaining their home address, and then sent SMS messages and audio recordings designed to intimidate the manager into releasing funds.

The demands made totaled €50,000, although the figure shifted over time as the kidnappers pushed for faster, smaller installments with vague promises to collect the balance later, the police said.

The Policía Nacional (national police of Spain) say they tracked all three individuals to a fast food restaurant inside a Málaga shopping center, the agreed handover point for the first payment, after a tip from an unspecified source.

"The swift police action ensured not only that the victim was unharmed but also that the demanded payment was not made," said Policía Nacional on Thursday (machine translated).

"The two men were subsequently arrested as the alleged perpetrators of a kidnapping." ®