A 30-year-old British Pole has been arrested for kidnapping a 20-year-old British model in Italy and holding her for six days.
Lukasz Pawel Herba, a British resident born in Poland, was arrested in Italy on Saturday, Aug. 5, and charged with suspicion of kidnapping for extortion purposes.
Herba pretended to hire the model, inviting her to a photoshoot in Milan, Italy, on July 11.
When she arrived at the supposed studio in Milan, she was attacked, drugged, and taken in the trunk of a car to the town of to Borgial, near the city of Turin, Italy.
In Borgial the kidnapped model was kept handcuffed to furniture for six days.
It is believed the woman was kidnapped to be forced into the sex trade, but when her kidnapper learned she had an young child, decided to ask for ransom instead.
Apparently Herba planned to auction her off on the dark web, a collection of unlisted internet sites used by criminals to communicate around the world.
Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported that Herba told his victim she would be freed if she paid 50,000 euros, about $60,000.
Other reports said he planned to auction her off for about $300,000 and contacted the model’s agent with this demand.
Despite receiving no money Herba eventually released the woman near the British Consulate in Milan on July 17. Police, tipped off by the model’s agent, seized Herba at that time.
A spokeswoman for the British Foreign Office said, “We have been providing consular support to a British woman in Italy and are in touch with local authorities.”
The woman’s identity has not been released.