Formula One Chief's Mother-in-Law Kidnapped in Brazil

SÃ O PAULO—The Brazilian mother-in-law of billionaire Formula One chief executive Bernie Ecclestone was kidnapped on Friday in the country's largest city.

A person familiar with the investigation on Tuesday said Aparecida Schunck was kidnapped from her Sã o Paulo home.

The kidnappers are asking for 120 million reais ($36.7 million) to free Ms. Schunck, whose daughter Fabiana Flosi married Mr. Ecclestone in 2012, the Brazilian magazine Veja reported.

Ms. Flosi, who used to work for Brazil's Formula One championship organization, met Mr. Ecclestone in 2009. They now live in London.

Spokespeople for the Brazilian police wouldn't comment on the kidnapping.

The kidnapping comes less than two weeks before the Aug. 5 opening of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro amid concerns about street crime and recent terror-related threats, some linked to Islamic State.

Kidnappings increased in Brazil and other Latin American countries in the early 2000s, as drug traffickers and criminal gangs used ransom payments to help finance their activities. Brazilian police formed anti-kidnapping units that significantly reduced the problem.

Still, kidnappings persist, including instances in which victims are seized for a few hours or days and forced to withdraw money from automated-teller machines.

Jason Lee, a jujitsu champion from New Zealand living in Rio de Janeiro, posted to his Twitter account and his Facebook page that he was seized by armed men dressed in police uniforms on Saturday. He said the men threatened him with arrest, forced him into a car, then drove him to two ATMs and told him to withdraw money.

On Tuesday, the Rio de Janeiro military police said they have ordered the arrest of two officers suspected of kidnapping Mr. Lee.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 26, 2016 21:35 ET (01:35 GMT)

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