TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Norwegian millionaire's wife likely abducted, ransom demanded: Police
Change Size
This undated handout provided by the Norwegian police shows wife of Norwegian multi-millionaire Tom Hagen, Anne-Elisabeth Falkevik. The wife of a Norwegian multi-millionaire missing for 10 weeks is believed to have been kidnapped and a large ransom has been demanded for her release, local media reported on January 9, 2019.
(AFP/Norwegian Police)
T
he wife of a Norwegian multi-millionaire missing for 10 weeks has probably been kidnapped and a ransom has been demanded for her release, police said Wednesday.
Married to a real estate and energy magnate, Anne-Elisabeth Falkevik Hagen, 68, disappeared on October 31, police said.
"A ransom demand and serious threats have been issued," inspector Tommy Broske told reporters.
"Our main theory is that the victim was kidnapped by unidentified perpetrators at her home" in Lorenskog, about 20 kilometers from Oslo, he said, adding that police have from the beginning examined several possible theories about her disappearance.
Police have received no sign of life from the woman, "but we haven't received any indication that she isn't alive either," Broske said.
The cautious nature of the remarks could be an indication that police have not received proof that Hagen was indeed being held by the people demanding the ransom.
Police said they had no suspects at this stage.
According to daily Verdens Gang, the ransom demand was for nine million euros ($10.3 million) in the cryptocurrency Monero.
Investigators refused to confirm that amount but said they advised the family not to pay the purported kidnappers.
Such events are extremely rare in the wealthy Scandinavian country, which enjoys a generally low crime rate.
Police have been investigating the case discreetly for several weeks but decided to make it public in the hope that someone would come forward with information, Broske said.
Broske said investigators had had "very limited" contacts with the self-described kidnappers online, but refused to disclose the date of the most recent contact.
The missing woman's husband, Tom Hagen, also 68, is Norway's 172nd richest man, according to the magazine Kapital, with an estimated fortune of 1.7 billion kroner (174 million euros, $200 million).
The real estate investor owns 70 percent of electricity company Elkraft, which he co-founded in 1992, Norwegian media reported.
