'Internet bride' held sheep farmer hostage

An Australian sheep farmer who sought love over the internet was instead kidnapped and held hostage for 12 days after his African "bride" turned out to be a group of machete-wielding gangsters.

Des Gregor, 56, flew to Mali with the promise of a dowry of gold and marriage to "Natacha", reportedly a Liberian refugee in her twenties, following a whirlwind affair over the world wide web.

But when he stepped off the plane, men claiming to be the woman's relatives took him to a flat in the capital, Bamako, where he was robbed, bound and threatened with having his limbs hacked off unless he arranged a £42,000 ransom.

The farmer, from South Australia, spent the next 12 days locked up indoors being forced by gang members to contact his family to send him money in exchange for his life.

The scam was foiled after Australian police, pretending to be his relatives, persuaded his captors to briefly release him to collect the ransom.

Bit more in depth:

Des Gregor, a 56-year-old from Hoyleton in SA's midnorth, arrived at Adelaide Airport tonight after being freed from his African captors who were ultimately duped by police.

Mr Gregor travelled to the landlocked west African nation of Mali last month to meet his supposed bride and collect a dowry of $100,000 in gold.

But on his July 27 arrival, he was kidnapped by an organised scam gang, beaten, stripped, had his cash and credit cards taken, and was held hostage at an apartment in Bamako, the capital of the third world country.

The wheat and sheep farmer was told he would have his limbs hacked off with a machete unless he arranged a $100,000 ransom.

AFP steps in

Mr Gregor was freed last Thursday when Australian Federal Police persuaded the kidnappers there was money to be collected by their captive from the Canadian embassy in Bamako.

The conmen briefly released Mr Gregor, and police rescued him.

"I especially thank the Australian Federal Police for the effort that they put in and also the Mali police, they did a fantastic job in conjunction with the AFP, and if it wasn't for them, I reckon another couple of days and I wouldn't have returned,'' Mr Gregor said.

Beaten with machete

Mr Gregor said he was beaten with a machete and bound by the legs during his time held captive in a one-room apartment.

He said on arrival in Mali, he had no suspicion he was a victim of a con.

"Everything was as to plan, I got off the plane and was met by this guy who dressed the part,'' he said.

"The first indication I had that there was something wrong was when we got to the flat, they called out for somebody's name and the person that was supposed to meet me weren't (sic) there.

"We walked in and there was one bloke with I would say a home-made pistol and another one with a machete.

"It's a bit hard to explain what I thought.

"I basically was wondering what the hell was going on and then they started demanding money - then I knew things were serious.''

Mr Gregor said he was given "a good belting with a machete, I still have the scars to prove that''.

"I was tied, bound by the legs, and that was only probably for a couple of days because they knew that I was going to cooperate ... there was always one bloke sleeping at the door, there was no way out,'' he said.

"They basically asked for money, $100,000 was the original figure.

"I gave them what I had, they then made me strip - that is when they got the wallet and that had 675 Australian dollars in it.''

Internet warning

Asked if he had learnt his lesson, Mr Gregor replied: "I think so.''

Mr Gregor arrived in Adelaide with none of his possessions and issued a warning to others seeking love over the internet.

"Just be careful, make sure you check everything out 100 per cent,'' he said. Earlier, his brother Phil Gregor said Des was "absolutely blinded by the fact it was a scam''.

"You see this in a movie, you read about it in a book - it happens to someone else, not you. But it does, I found that out,'' Phil Gregor said.

"I really hope that the message gets out to people that they look after their family and if anyone talks about internet relationships, that they can be open and share the mail with them to get an objective opinion.

"When you're in that relationship, it does seem that the reality of the scam doesn't show up to the person that is in it."

And from the brother, Wilf and his wife ...

We tried to warn him

Article from: Sunday Mail (SA) August 12, 2007 12:15am

DES Gregor was warned by his family the Mali deal sounded "too good to be true". Brother Wilf Gregor, 57, and his wife Raelene, 53, were "extremely concerned" when Des announced he was going to Mali for the promise of $100,000 and a new bride.

"You don't go chasing women overseas – there are plenty of good women around here," Mrs Gregor said from their home at Hoyleton, west of Clare. "He's 56. He should have checked out before he left that it was for real." Wilf added: "He said he was going to be picked up with a limo and that he didn't have to pay for any accommodation. I thought that was funny."

The pair said Des only told them of his plans a month before he flew to Mali, and had once flown to Russia after meeting someone on the internet. Later they learned others had been told at least four months earlier of his intentions. Mrs Gregor said Des – who had never had a girlfriend – would always confide in others before family and they blamed the others for "advising him falsely".

The couple said they had found forged passports and visas for "Natacha" at his home. Wilf was so concerned he took two cameras to Des's weather-worn home the day of his departure to take a photo of Des "because I was afraid he wasn't going to come back". "We don't have many photos of Des (but) in the end I didn't take the photo – I thought surely I'll be wrong," Wilf said. "He was so cocksure that everything was going to be all right."

The pair revealed it was not the first time the bachelor, a cereal and sheep farmer, had looked overseas for love. Wilf said Des had flown to Russia three years ago, but he had never talked about what happened.

On Saturday, July 28, they received a call from their brother-in-law saying Des had contacted him and that he needed money. He had been kidnapped and his abductors wanted money. "He told us that he may never be seen again and that he'll get shot," Wilf said. A week later, on Sunday, August 5, Des made contact at 5.45am. "We knew he was in trouble; he was just pleading to me for money and for help," Wilf said. "He was trying to instruct me how to send him money. I told him to send me an email."

Wilf said there was no discussion about how he was, but Des said it was "hot and humid". An hour later, Des rang again saying the email had not gone through and at that stage Wilf said the police took over. Wilf confirmed he did send some money to the "gangsters" as part of the negotiations, but would not say how much.

A friend of Des's, who did not want to be named, said he had received six to eight calls pleading for money. "He rang up a few people around town asking for loans – it didn't twig at first, but now it looks like it was one of those Russian bride scams," the friend said.

"He obviously fell in love with this picture on his computer. Des is a single bloke who never married – a gullible, quiet sort of bloke. "And the poor bastard got caught up in something like this before. He did one of those overseas bride things in Eastern Europe. I'm not sure what happened there but I know he didn't come back with a bride."

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