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An Auckland businessman is lying low after being targeted in a bizarre kidnapping plot where the three accused threatened to expose him as a paedophile unless they received $100,000 in cash.
The trio with Headhunter gang connections - Jason Williams, 26, Andrea Snowden, 18, and Arepa Rata Mehana, 18, all of Auckland - are jointly charged with kidnapping, threatening to kill, possession of a pistol and blackmail.
The businessman, who has been granted name suppression, was not at his North Shore home on Friday, and did not return Herald on Sunday calls.
Although details around the charges are sketchy, police confirmed they were told of the alleged kidnap and extortion last Saturday. Three days later, the three accused were arrested at two Orakei addresses. They appeared in the Auckland District Court on Friday and all three were denied bail.
"It was a fairly good beating. It wasn't just a slap around the head with a wet bus ticket," a police source said.
They will appear again in a fortnight.
Police would not speculate on whether there was any substance to the paedophilia claims against the businessman, saying they were focusing their inquiries on the current charges.
Police would no doubt look into other matters later down the track, a spokesperson said.
