14 DAY TRIAL // Recent conflicting reports about the kidnapping of Ivan Kaspersky, the 20-year-old son of Eugene Kaspersky, were the result of authorities intentionally spreading false information to journalists.
Ivan Kaspersky was freed this weekend by police after being held captive several days in the bathroom of a house just outside Moscow.
The young man was kidnapped last Tuesday from the city's north-west area while on his way to work at InfoWatch.
Authorities arrested five suspects in connection with the kidnapping, Nikolai Savelyev, 61, an ex-convict, his wife, Lyudmila Savelyeva, 64, their son, Nikolai, 29, and two of his friends.
According to The Moscow Times, a police source expressed amazement at the mistakes made by the kidnappers, the biggest of which was to keep the hostage inside their own home.
Second, they called his father to ask for a €3 million ($4.3m) ransom from a mobile phone which they then failed to disconnect. This allowed authorities to trace the signal back to the house and find out who lives there.
Nikolai senior, his wife and two others were easily lured out of the house to collect a down payment on the ransom. They were stopped under the pretext of a routine documents check and were detained. Meanwhile, a special police team stormed the house, arrested the fifth suspect and freed Ivan.
The police misinformation campaign involved telling news publications that Eugene Kaspersky refused to cooperate with authorities and agreed to pay the ransom.
This was probably done to raise the confidence of the kidnappers and lower their guard at the same time. Kaspersky Lab's previous statement that called onto the media to stop spreading "rumors and speculation" about the events, might have also been part of this plan.