25 December 2023 , 16:54
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The British millionaire who was kidnapped in Ecuador is pictured in Lake Como with his Colombian girlfriend last year, as the police reveal the bomb vest she was made to wear by the crooks was fake.
Former honorary British Consul Colin Armstrong OBE was snatched by 15 men dressed in fake police uniforms when he was kidnapped a week ago, along with his 'romantic partner,' Katherine Paolo Santos. While the 78-year-old has now been released safely, Ms Santos is said to have been quizzed by police about her alleged involvement in the millionaire's kidnapping.
Photos taken in July last year show Mr Armstrong and Ms Santos at Lake Como in at the luxury 'historical and romantic' Villa d'Este. In the photos, the pair are shown smiling and laughing together light-heartedly, with Mr Armstrong dressed in black and white shorts. His glamorous girlfriend is seen dressed in a purple bikini and gold earrings, drinking what seems to be a cocktail by the pool.
The duo are seen taking it in turns to take photos of each other, before drying off with matching blue towels and holding hands as they walk. The Villa d'Este is a five star 'opulent hotel' which overlooks Lake Como - boasting of a pool, tennis court and world-famous Italian Renaissance gardens.
Bundled into his own black BMW at gunpoint, the millionaire businessman - formerly known as 'Our Man in Guayaquil' - was kidnapped last Saturday, along with Ms Santos, a Colombian model and pole dancer. Hours later, Ms Santos reappeared at a gated property - believed to belong to Mr Armstrong's son Nick - wearing what she claimed was a bomb vest which would blow up if a ransom wasn't paid for Mr Armstrong to the gang behind his kidnapping. But when bomb disposal officers in protective gear removed the vest, they later revealed it to be a fake.
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Mr Armstrong was kidnapped last month and released (Cobra Team / BACKGRID)
Police are said to be talking to Mr Armstrong's partner (Cobra Team / BACKGRID)On Tuesday evening at around 11pm, three days after Ms Santos' release, Mr Armstrong was picked up by police who found him wandering along a main road in the coastal province of Manabi, about 150 miles southwest of the capital, Quito. But while the Policia Nacional del Ecuador have already made nine arrests and confiscated a huge haul of guns, grenades, detonators and drugs, serious questions remain for investigating officers including whether or not Mr Armstrong's kidnappers had help from someone with insider knowledge.
And who is the mysterious Ms Santos who has been at Mr Armstrong's side in recent years given that, just 18 months ago, Mr Armstrong was publicly paying tribute to his wife Cecilia, whom he married 49 years ago, at an event attended by hundreds of his employees? With an ex-local MP publicly implicating Santos in the crime, she is said to have been quizzed by police about her alleged involvement in the kidnapping plot.
Father-of-three Mr Armstrong, meanwhile, is said to be 'safe and healthy' after police released a photograph of him, smiling for the camera in a police-issue baseball cap and long-sleeved t-shirt - remarkable, given everything he has been through in the past week.