Russian mafia demanded $11.6 million ransom for kidnapped developer they branded a “thief”

Found lost and wandering on a country road, tycoon’s story baffles all

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Irish property tycoon Kevin Michael McGeever was kidnapped by the Russian mob

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The Irish tycoon who turned up disorientated and disheveled on a remote country road is claiming he was held by a Russian mafia gang.

According to the Daily Telegraph, Kevin Michael McGeever, 68, said he was held captive for eight months and that his kidnappers demanded a $12 million ransom. McGeever also told relatives that his captors took over $100,000 from one of his bank accounts as a ransom.

'He cannot understand what happened and why,' a source told the Telegraph.

McGeever reportedly told family members that he had been abducted from his home, hooded and then driven for hours before the van transporting him stopped.

Read More: Missing businessman has ‘thief’ engraved into his forehead

'When he had the hood taken off he realized he was in a shipping container,' the source added. 'On the walls there were pictures of other men with their names written on them.'

According to the Telegraph McGeever said his kidnappers communicated with him by writing everything down. He said they told him the men in the pictures 'are dead and you will be next.'

McGeever is still too weak to be interrogated by police detectives eager to investigate his disappearance and his claims that he was kidnapped. Meanwhile they are investigating reports that McGeever sent three text messages to his partner, Siobhan O'Callaghan, shortly after his disappearance in June last year.

According to investigators, the texts reassured her that he was okay but they were sent from his phone on mobile networks in the UK and Germany, adding another layer to the mystery.

McGeever was found wandering a country road last Tuesday, his appearance disheveled, with a long beard and long nails and had lost about seventy pounds in weight.

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He told police his kidnappers, who he claimed were linked to the Russian mafia, had held him in a darkened container.

A bright light of the Celtic Tiger boom years, McGeever made a fortune selling luxury homes in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. He lives in a $4.09 million mansion named Nirvana and runs a fleet of luxury cars, including a Porsche and two Hummers.

He had been reported missing from his home in Craughwell, County Galway, last June by his partner O'Callaghan.
 

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