Kidnapping Planned to Recover Poker Losses

Kidnapping Planned to Recover Poker Losses
The FBI recently has arrested two men in Palm Beach County Florida for purportedly planning a kidnapping to recover approximately $100,000 in poker losses. Investigators of the FBI identified the two individuals as Michael James Melillo, 50, and Pavlos Kaimacliotis, 38. They were both placed in jail and were scheduled for a bail hearing late last week. The FBI has said that Melillo had set his sights on a wealthy Palm Beach Gardens man because he lost so much money playing poker and needed to care for his young son. With the help of an informant, the FBI were able to set up two undercover agents to pose as a fellow kidnapper and the potential victim's wife. The FBI also staged a photograph that showed restraints placed on the intended victim to male Melillo think the kidnapping was a success. Melillo told the undercover agents that he would seek $15 million from the victim's family but would not take less than $7.5 million. Melillo indicated that he had spent years planning the kidnapping and even paid one of the undercover agents $5,000 in cash in addition to providing details on the man he intended to kidnap. There was not an attorney listed in court records for Melillo and Kaimacliotis's lawyer did not provide any comments.
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