An influencer has been arrested on suspicion of staging her own kidnapping to boost her follower count.
Monniky Fraga was detained on Tuesday (24 Mar) morning, almost a year after the alleged fake abduction in April 2025.
Police say they began investigating her at the time, believing she staged the kidnapping to gain media attention.
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She had secured coverage in several outlets to tell her story.
Detective Cley Anderson told local media: “As the investigation progressed, it found indications that the alleged kidnap-for-ransom was in fact nothing more than a plot between the supposed victim and one of the perpetrators.”
Thirty police officers took part in the operation – dubbed “Cortina de Likes”, or Smokescreen of Likes – which resulted in two arrests and two property searches.
Police said three people, in addition to Fraga, were involved in the fake kidnapping, as reported by Need To Know.
Anderson said: “The investigation suggests she not only knew about it, but agreed things in advance and stayed in contact with one of those involved afterwards.”
One man is already in prison for other crimes, and another was murdered before an arrest warrant could be issued.
A third, who allegedly received the ransom money, had his property searched in Várzea Paulista.
In a bizarre twist, Fraga’s husband, Lucas – who was also kidnapped, assaulted and robbed – was reportedly unaware of the plot.
Anderson said: “At all times, he has maintained that he genuinely believed it was a real kidnapping.”
Fraga’s lawyers have requested that she be released from custody and placed under house arrest, citing that she has young children.
The influencer – who has more than 48,000 followers across Instagram, TikTok and Facebook – claimed she and Lucas were confronted by three armed men in their car outside their home in Igarassu, Brazil.
In a video shared on social media, she said the men threatened to torture them if a ransom was not paid.
She said Lucas was assaulted while the kidnappers demanded their belongings.
The couple was allegedly led into a wooded area, held for hours, and released only after the ransom was paid.
Police launched an investigation after the report was filed.
Fraga maintains she was genuinely kidnapped.
She is expected to face charges of blackmail, perverting the course of justice and wasting police time.
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