Former restaurant manager kidnapped French five-star hotel heir in vengeance

A former restaurant manager caught in vengeance, a former British Special Forces soldier who needed money, a private detective…

13 suspects who were involved in the kidnapping case of Jacqueline Bayrak (80), a millionaire who operates a five-star hotel “Le Grand Hotel,” in Cannes, a resort city in southern France, stood before the Alpmaritime felony court on the 4th.

The prosecution pointed to Giuseppe Serena, 67, from Piedmont, Italy, who passed over to the French Riviera in 2000, dreaming of success as the main culprit.

Serena, who once operated and managed a popular restaurant in Nice, was charged with leading the kidnapping of Bayrak in front of her home in Nice around noon on October 24, 2016.

Prior to this, the prosecution believes that Serena planned the case of attempting to kidnap Bayrak, who had been returning home at 6 pm on December 9, 2013.

Prosecutors suspect that Serena kidnapped Bayrak because she needed money to buy another restaurant, but Serena, who has been investigated under arrest for the past four years, denies all charges.

Summarizing local media reports such as the daily Le Parisian and the weekly Le Point, Serena and Bayrak’s bad performance dates back to 2005.

Indulged in Serena’s cuisine, Bayrak entrusted him to run the restaurant’La Rezerv’ overlooking the Port of Nice.

The restaurant, which reopened in 2007 after a major renovation, seemed to attract customers in the early stages, but as time passed, its popularity withered and fell into financial difficulties and lost a Michelin star.

Bayrak eventually fired him in 2009 and turned him into a lawsuit. The prosecution’s conclusion is that Serena, who has lost her job and money, seems to have had a grudge against Bayrak.

Former British soldier Philip Dutton, 52, who also participated in the kidnapping plan in 2013, stated that Bayrak’s ransom was 5 million euros (about 6.6 billion won) and that Serena was planning to take half of it.

Dutton, a former special force serving in Bosnia, Iraq, and Afghanistan, admitted that Serena first proposed the crime to him, and that she took Serena’s hand because she was blinded by money.

Serena is claiming innocence, but Dutton revealed that Serena had been grinding teeth for months, claiming that Bayrak took everything from her.

Dutton was the roommate of Serena’s old friend Enrico Fontanella. Fontanella also participated in the first attempted crime, but his health deteriorated and did not join the second.

In addition, a private detective, Luc Gurssola, 50, who made a name for himself as a paparazzi in Nice, was charged with installing a location tracker in Bayrak’s car.

Three young men from Tunisia and three young men from Chechen are also being tried on charges of being involved in the abduction and attempted abduction cases.

When Bayrak was first almost kidnapped in 2013, he struggled and screamed to be released, but in 2016 he was taken away in broad daylight.

Unlike 2013, when no DNA traces or witness statements were secured, there were witnesses who remembered the impressions of the suspects and the license plate of the car in 2016.

Two hours after the crime, the kidnappers called their sons on Bayrak’s mobile phone and asked for money, but they did not provide a specific amount, and contact was cut off afterwards.

The kidnappers tried to send a text message with the amount of money to their son, but it was later investigated that the transmission failed due to technical problems.

Bayrak was found 48 hours later in a car left in a secluded neighborhood of Nice with eyes and mouth covered, hands and feet tied.

Bayrak asked for rescue when a passerby, who had been wondering about the car standing in the same seat for two days, approached.

Fortunately, there was no harm in life, but Bayrak was forced to take sleeping pills while being held, and was unable to go to the bathroom.

The last years of Bayrak, who gained enormous wealth by inheriting a hotel left by her husband’s legacy in 2002, were not so smooth.

The trial will be held until January 29th, and Bayrak is expected to attend the trial on the 7th of this month.

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