The 43-year-old man disappeared from his home in southern Sweden Oct. 21 and turned up the next week in Nuremberg, where he allegedly told police he had been kidnapped by two men who forced him to use his credit cards during a drive to Germany, via Austria and Italy, The Local reported Tuesday.

The man, whose story fell apart after police began an expensive search for the alleged kidnappers, eventually told police he left home after a tiff with his wife and then realized he was going to have some explaining to do when he returned home, where his wife had reported him missing, the Local reported.

The man, whose name was not released, was ordered held on bail in Nuremberg and placed under investigation for forging a crime, the Local reported.