Bernie Ecclestone's mother-in-law has reportedly been kidnapped in Sao Paulo, Brazil, with her kidnappers demanding a ransom of $36.5m (£28m).
According to Brazil's Veja, Aparecida Schunck, who is the mother of Ecclestone's current wife Fabiana Flosi, was seized in Sao Paulo on Friday night.
Neither Ecclestone nor Sao Paulo's police department have commented on the reports.
The reports added that the criminals behind the abduction have demanded the money be paid in pounds sterling and divided into four bags of cash.
Kidnapping isn't uncommon in Brazil, although far rarer these days compared to 15 years ago when statistics show someone was abducted every 27 hours.
In 2010, McLaren driver Jenson Button was the subject of an attempted abduction when three men with guns approached his car on the Saturday before the Brazilian Grand Prix that year. His driver managed to escape by ramming several cars out of the way.
Discussion about this post