18-year-old girl detained for role in staged Krasnoyarsk kidnapping
The 18-year-old faces fraud charges for her alleged role in the criminal scheme.
In Krasnoyarsk, an 18-year-old girl from Surgut, who accompanied the «kidnapped» son of the head of Avtospetsmash, Andrei Kaplia, was detained. This was reported in the Telegram channel of the Russian Investigative Committee.
A criminal case has been initiated against her under the article «Fraud committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy on an especially large scale.» She faces up to ten years in prison.
After the reason for the detention was announced, according to video footage, the girl showed no words or emotions, silently reviewed the documents, and signed them.
As the investigation found, the girl cooperated with the fraudsters and on 21 January she flew to Krasnoyarsk. The next day, 22 January, she went to the house of the «kidnapped» teenager, Nikolai Kaplia, and together they broke into safes and stole three million rubles (about $33,000 at current rates). This money belonged to the family of the 14-year-old boy.
In the evening of the same day, the girl handed the money over to the fraudsters but kept some for herself. After that, she and the teenager went to an apartment rented by unknown persons and waited for further instructions from the fraudsters.
In the same apartment, the «kidnapped» teenager sent a video message to his father — Andrei Kaplia — assuring the man that he was worried and wanted to go home. As law enforcement later established, they were in an apartment on Krasnoyarsky Rabochy Avenue.
Moreover, during interrogation, the younger Kaplia himself told the details of his disappearance — before going missing, he had a phone conversation with the fraudsters.
14-year-old Nikolai Kaplia went missing on the evening of 22 January. It was reported that from the settlement of Serebryany Bor, where he lives, the boy was taken away by a girl — the 18-year-old from Surgut. They got into a taxi and left in an unknown direction.
Later, a ransom of 30 million rubles (about $330,000 at current rates) was demanded from Andrei Kaplia. Investigators opened a criminal case on kidnapping but also considered the version of fraud. On the evening of 23 January, Nikolai and the girl were found.
The full chronology of the boy«s disappearance and operational footage from the scene can be found in this article. Moreover, on the NGS24.RU website there is a special section dedicated to this topic.
