NEW YORK, May 23 (UPI) -- Three men kidnapped a New York City businessman, burned him with acid, beat him and threatened to kill him while demanding $3 million in ransom, police allege.
Christian Acuna, 35, Dennis Alves, 32, and Eduardo Moncayo, 38, all of New York, are charged in last month's abduction, which ended Monday when police rescued 52-year-old Pedro Portugal from the warehouse where he had been held for 32 days, The New York Times reported. Police were looking for several other suspects, the newspaper said.
Portugal was kidnapped by a group of masked men while walking to his car in New York's Queens borough. Authorities said in a statement released Wednesday he was burned with acid and had several teeth knocked out. His abductors also threatened to stab him and to cut off his fingers, authorities said.
Authorities said police found Portugal by tracking people with criminal records who had traveled back and forth to Ecuador about the time of the abduction.
Related
"This is a terrifying story of a businessman allegedly being forcibly abducted off the streets of Queens County in broad daylight and being beaten and held against his will for more than a month while his alleged kidnappers demanded $3 million from relatives in Ecuador for his safe return," prosecutor Richard A. Brown said in the statement. "In the process, the victim allegedly suffered physical injuries and has been deeply traumatized by the ordeal."
The Times said it was not clear why Portugal, who was treated at a hospital and released, was targeted. He owns an accounting business and relatives in Ecuador own property and businesses but are not particularly wealthy, authorities said.
