Kidnapped Chloe Ayling manager reveals truth about her abduction after years of accusations

The manager of a British model who was kidnapped and held hostage in Italy for six days has given his side of the story following the release of a BBC drama recreating the ordeal.

During the trial the Italian court would later hear Herba had injected Chloe with ketamine, handcuffed her and put her in a suitcase before driving her to a house in Viu, near Turin, in the boot of his car.

A gang calling itself the Black Death Group demanded £270,000 or she would be sold as a sex slave on the dark web. But six days later she turned up at the British consulate in Milan, despite no ransom demand being paid, the Mirror reported.

READ MORE: I thought ‘Thank God maybe everything is ok’. Then police knocked on my door

In the seven years since her ordeal, Chloe still faces doubts about her story, being accused of profiting from it and using it as a publicity stunt. Her former agent, Phil Green, who was at the heart of the saga, says in his mind there is no way it was staged.

The booking was made via Phil’s Supermodel Agency in July 2017 – but the kidnapper had in fact already attempted to make a booking a few months earlier, for a shoot in Paris in March.

Phil said: “I was contacted by a photographer called Andre Lazio about a motorbike shoot in Paris. He specifically asked for Chloe.

“I carried out due diligence, asked questions about the job, checked his website, asked where and when shoot would take place, got the address of the studio and checked examples of previous work. I’ve been doing this job for 30 years and I always carry out all the necessary checks, but there’s no way you could predict something like this.”

Phil said: “All the boxes were ticked. His studio was called ‘Bellissmafique’. I even checked the address on Google maps. Chloe was more than happy to take the job. He paid £900 up front.”

When she travelled to France in April things went wrong. Phil said: “I turned on TV and saw there had been a terror attack in Paris, a policeman had been killed. I was horrified, I called Chloe straight away. She said she could hear sirens outside and I told her to stay in the hotel.”

The next morning the photographer called and said his studio had been ransacked and the shoot was off. Herba then visited the hotel to give Chloe £90 expenses to see her through the day.

Phil said: “He emailed a couple of days later to apologise saying he was leaving Paris because it was too dangerous to return to Milan.”

He later booked Chloe again for the job on July 11. Phil said: “We discussed all the details again and he paid up. We even discussed sizes so he could get leathers in for her. He sent pictures of his new studio with the same ‘Bellissmafique’ sign.”

Chloe arrived in Italy on July 10 and Phil spoke to her that night as she was heading out for a meal.

The photo shoot was due to take place at 8.30am on the 11th – but that evening he received a frantic call from Chloe’s mum. He said: “I’d never spoken to her before. She was worried Chloe hadn’t been in touch. I sent messages to the photographer and tried to call but it was late and I received no answer.

“I checked with the airline and she hadn’t boarded the flight. Chloe had a photoshoot in Ibiza on July 13 and I thought she might have gone straight there. I tried to call her but her phone rang through with foreign ringtone.”

The next morning, July 12, he told Chloe’s mum to call the police – then at around 10am he received the shocking ransom email.

The message said: “We have Chloe and we are the Black Death Group. Unless you pay money to us by Sunday she will be put to auction where she may get sold to the Russian mafia.”

The email also contained the names of three wealthy businessmen who could pay the ransom. Phil said: “It said they could be approached to get the money. The names must have come from Chloe, people she knew through work, because she knew I didn’t have the money. After seeing that email I was just frozen to the spot. I had never seen anything like that before. I was in total shock.”

He immediately called the police in Milan, but was told he had to report a missing person in person. “My next call was to the British consulate in Milan, they took it very seriously. They said they would get the Foreign Office special crimes unit involved.”

He then received a call from the Met Police – who had been contacted by Chloe’s mum. “I told them what I had received and they passed it to my local force in the East Midlands. In virtually no time at all the police were at my house.

“They took over all my emails and dealt with all contact with the kidnappers. It was a slow process, there could be hours and hours between messages from Italy. They controlled everything, they did give me updates, but they kept the full details to themselves.

“There were very senior officers in my house 24/7 for the best part of a week, they are specially trained in negotiating. They were very calm, very professional.”

While the police were in his house they received an email with pictures of Chloe in the suitcase. During the negotiations the kidnap gang was demanding £270,000, but the police told them they could only afford £20,000.

“It was dreadful. I didn’t know what I could do to help,” said Phil. “It went on for days, but then on the Sunday they confirmed they were standing down as there had been developments in Italy. They told me Chloe was safe and well. It was such a relief.”

Chloe had to stay in Italy for a while to give her statement, but Phil later paid for her flight back to the UK. But once she was back home she turned her back on him and signed with a London publicity agent.

He said: “It was disappointing when that happened after all I’d done for her during her modelling career, but what can you do?”

He added: “Chloe has said she hopes the show will stop people from questioning her.

“Chloe has been accused of faking the abduction, using it as a publicity stunt. I don’t think that will ever change, online conspiracy theories never die.

“I was there during the time when it happened and it was terrifying for me, it beggars belief that it was stage managed.”

“But the way she behaved after being released, it looked like she loved all the attention. All the press and TV interviews, going on Celebrity Big Brother. In my view she made some bad decisions, people thought she was just in it for the money.”

Of the media attention at the time, Chloe told the BBC: “It was just so big and overpowering – but I was happy to be home, I was happy this was over – so why shouldn’t I be smiling?”

Her kidnapper was convicted of kidnapping and sentenced to 16 years and nine months in prison, later reduced to 12 years and one month.

During the investigation, Herba’s brother, Michał Konrad Herba, who ran a transport logistics company, was also arrested. Email and forensic evidence linked him to the case and he was sentenced to 16 years one month, also reduced to 5 years and 8 months on appeal.

Phil added that even now, seven years after the kidnap ordeal, he still receives many enquiries to book Chloe for modelling work. And he said he believes she was targeted after being spotted in social media, with her followers on Instagram rising.

“Models put everything up there. I have no doubt that the attacker was a follower on Instagram. They saw how many followers she had and in their minds thought they could attract a higher ransom. I think it is a little bit dangerous, you don’t know who is watching you, checking up on you.”

Speaking about the Kidnapped drama, Phil said he felt some things were unfair.

He said: “There was little shown in the way of my empathy towards Chloe, and were very unsympathetic towards me, But that didn’t really come as a surprise.

“There were no scenes depicting all the work I did to help, all the contacts I called, all the extensive conversations with the authorities in Italy and the UK. I know it says on the credits characters are used for dramatic purposes, but I don’t think it was fair.”

A BBC spokesperson said: “The production team carried out extensive research, drawing on Chloe Ayling’s book, court transcripts and interviews with Chloe and other individuals including lawyers, police officers, and Phil Green.”

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