19-Year-Old Girl Extorts Relative by Faking Kidnapping of Herself and Her Brother's Daughter

The Investigative Committee of Armenia has released details regarding an incident where a 19-year-old student staged her own kidnapping and that of her brother's three-year-old daughter in order to extort 1,000,000 AMD from relatives. This occurred within the jurisdiction of the Erebuni and Nubarashen investigative division of the Investigative Committee.

A resident of Yerevan, born in 1999, reported to the Central Division of the Armenian Police that on May 8, 2019, an unidentified individual threatened her with a knife, forced her to strip partially, and then took photos of her. They also compelled her to disclose her online passwords and threatened to release her compromising photos unless she abducted her brother's daughter and left the house, which she did while taking the child to a park.

According to the 19-year-old's complaint, while at the park, she claimed to have monitored the situation via phone, where the unidentified person used her Facebook Messenger account to communicate with her mother and brother, informing them of their supposed kidnapping and demanding a ransom of 1,000,000 AMD, threatening that they would never see their loved ones again if the money was not provided.

Under the duress of the alleged kidnapper, she stated that relatives sent 600,000 AMD to her via the IDram payment system, which she then withdrew and left in a taxi as instructed by the accused, before returning home with her brother's daughter.

However, after investigative actions were conducted in cooperation with the Police, it became evident that the claims made by the 19-year-old were fabricated.

It was determined that she had deceitfully pretended to be kidnapped in order to steal money from her family.

A criminal case was initiated on May 27, 2019, in the Erebuni division of the Police under Article 178, Part 2, Point 2 and Article 333, Part 1 of the Criminal Code of Armenia, which has been sent to the Investigative Committee’s Erebuni and Nubarashen investigative division for further inquiry.

According to the evidence collected, the third-year student, influenced by a television series depicting a kidnapping for ransom, decided to orchestrate a similar scenario to pressure her parents into lending her money. She assumed that her family would reach out for financial assistance, and upon receiving it, she planned to present the sum to them, claiming she had secured a job.

On May 17, 2019, under the pretense of taking her brother’s three-year-old daughter for a walk, she left home and, using her personal website, contacted her mother and brother falsely claiming that they had been abducted, presenting the ransom demand for 1,000,000 AMD with threats regarding the police.

The child's father, believing in the authenticity of the threats, borrowed money from the mother-in-law, and within three hours of the demand, via IDram, transferred 820,000 AMD to an account set up in the perpetrator’s name.

After confirming the transfer, the girl withdrew 600,000 AMD and returned home, insisting on a kidnapping scenario.

Days later, upon learning that her mother pawned jewelry to repay the borrowed money, she confessed the whole incident, returned 600,000 AMD, and also withdrew the remaining 220,000 AMD from the account.

The 19-year-old has given a confession regarding her actions.

The investigation is ongoing.