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Police find kidnapped CEO's car

The Local Sweden
The Local Sweden - [email protected]
Police find kidnapped CEO's car

The car of missing Gothenburg businessman, Fabian Bengtsson, has been found in the Majorna district of the city, ten minutes drive from his home.

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The 32 year old managing director and co-owner of electronics retail giant SIBA was last seen at 7.45 on Monday morning as he set off for work. He never arrived at his office and was last heard of at 10.37 that morning when he left a message on his father's phone.

His mobile has been switched off since then.

Police say the message leads them to believe that he is "probably being held against his will" and an alert has been issued for his return both nationally and internationally.

"The search is intensive," said Sven Alhbin, who is leading the investigation. "New information is coming all the time about the car, people and other things."

Bengtsson's car was first spotted in Majorna at 12.35 at Tuesday lunchtime. A local resident noted its presence as he was interested in cars and thought the luxury BMW M3 was a rare sight in the area. When he then read about Bengtsson's disappearance and the search for his missing car, he took a second look.

The man said the keys were still in the ignition and he realised the colour and registration number matched the reports and immediately contacted the police.

The police confirmed the car was Bengtsson's and it is being examined by forensic experts.

While police will not say whether any demands have been made for the safe return of Fabian Bengtsson, they seem certain that he has been kidnapped.

Johanna Euren, head of information at SIBA, said that the company is keeping its staff informed of developments. But when asked if there had been any previous threats made against Fabian Bengtsson, she said she had no comment to make.

"It is the police who are dealing with this," she said. "You'll need to speak to them."

But later on, prompted by a mass of speculation about the kidnapping and detailed profiles of the Bengtsson family, the SIBA press office released a statement strongly criticising the media's coverage.

The company said that "the media's handling of the matter has crossed all boundaries, in the opinion of both the SIBA management and the Bengtsson family".

"When it gets to the stage where the media is hiring helicopters to watch over the family's house, it has gone too far," said Johanna Euren.

"We appeal to the media to have respect for the Bengtsson family and the police investigation. By giving out detailed facts about the family, the media attention puts Fabian Bengtsson and others in the family in direct danger, both during the investigation and after."

Andy Butterworth/James Savage

Sources: Svenska Dagbladet, Sydsvenska Dagbladet, Göteborgs Posten, Dagens Nyheter

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