They say love knows no boundaries and a lot of people agree with this. We have come across instances when lovebirds go to any extent to spend time with each other. From bunking tuition to lying to parents, most of us have done it all. Didn't we? But this man from Australia decided to talk things a notch higher. He came up with the idea to fake his own kidnapping so that he can spend time with his girlfriend instead of his partner.
According to a report by LAD Bible, a 35-year-old man, identified as Paul Iera, was arrested on Thursday for allegedly making a false accusation and representation that led to a costly and time-consuming investigation.
According to police prosecutor Sergeant Kate McKinley, the investigation cost the government and the police force over $25,000 and 100-200 hours of wasted time.
Mr Iera had reportedly left his home on New Year's Eve, telling his partner he was going to meet a "financial guy" in Dapto. His partner received a latenight text message from a sex worker who claimed that he had been kidnapped. The text message reportedly stated that the kidnappers would release Mr Iera in the morning in exchange for his bike.
The text message reportedly said: "'[Partner] it's ‘[name]' thank you for sending Paul to me, now payback is a b**** bye bye. But I'm going to be fair OK, we will keep him with us until the morning when (sic) he gives us his bike we call it square, no one's touching him my word I'll give you hun OK.”
Following this, according to reports, Mr Iera's partner contacted the police after receiving a text message from a sex worker claiming that Mr Iera had been kidnapped and was being held hostage for his $7,000 dirt bike.
The police immediately launched an investigation, searching through hours of CCTV footage and interviewing witnesses. However, during the investigation, Mr Iera was allegedly seen on camera entering the home of his lover with an overnight bag between the times the texts were sent, the report added.
In a statement, the police confirmed that Mr Iera had fabricated the story of his own kidnapping. It was also revealed in court that Mr Iera had called his father the day after the supposed kidnapping to say he would be left in his car by his captors.
Further investigation revealed that the calls were made from Dapto, not Wollongong where Mr Iera claimed to have been kidnapped.
During his court appearance, Paul Iera's mother, sister, and partner were present. The case was described by the magistrate as "quite bizarre" and Mr Iera was granted bail. He is expected to return to court later this month.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
