Cut-price kidnappers: Bungling brothers lowered £30,000 ransom to £3,000 when no one paid

See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source Published: 17:05 EDT, 20 September 2026 | Updated: 17:05 EDT, 20 September 2026 Two brothers who kidnapped a man they mistakenly thought was wealthy had to drop their ransom demand by 90 per cent when none of his friends were able to afford it.The pair lured victim Ali Almafraji to a Nando's restaurant in south London with the promise of a date, before jumping into his car and threatening him with an imitation gun.Bilal, 28, and Zachariya Rakik, 26, then called a number of Mr Almafraji's friends, warning that they would kill him at dawn unless they paid a £30,000 ransom.But the pair were forced to lower it to £3,000 after one friend thought it was a joke and hung up, while the others struggled to raise more than £2,000.Thinking a few thousand pounds was better than nothing, the duo arranged a handover, not realising one of the friends had called the police, who freed the victim in a dramatic armed raid.Judge Daniel Dyal, sentencing the brothers at Woolwich Crown Court to a total of more than 14 years in prison, said although they threatened 'significant violence' to their victim, there were 'obvious flaws in the plan'.Mr Almafraji, 28, from north London's upmarket St John's Wood and who works for his father's moped repair business, had told the court he thought he was 'on to a good thing' with the 22-year-old he had met on a dating app. In court it was alleged that the woman who had been used as the bait in the honeytrap was Zachariya's girlfriend Cherish Bakari. Bilal, 28, and Zachariya Rakik, 26, then called a number of Mr Almafraji's friends, warning that they would kill him at dawn unless they paid a £30,000 ransom But the pair were forced to lower it to £3,000 after one friend thought it was a joke and hung up, while the others struggled to raise more than £2,000Mr Almafraji arranged to meet her at the Nando's in Lewisham, south-east London, but when he arrived for the 10pm rendezvous he found she had deleted her profile.The two masked kidnappers then jumped into his car and thrust an 'airsoft' gun that fires pellets – which he believed was real – into his back, threatening to shoot him.Mr Almafraji said that when he had the gun pointed at him: 'I thought it was my last night.'Six hours into the kidnap – and after Mr Almafraji's friend Taimoor Shaikh called 999 – the Metropolitan Police's elite Flying Squad carried out an armed raid on the moving car, shooting out its tyres, smashing its windows and dragging out all three men before arresting the brothers.Bilal and Zachariya both from Lewisham, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to kidnap, conspiracy to blackmail and possession of an imitation firearm to cause fear of being harmed.Judge Dyal said they had spent 'several weeks' working on their plan to target Mr Almafraji for his 'apparent wealth' but that 'an element of immaturity contributed to the bad decision-making involved in the offending'.He added that the pair may also have been 'under the influence of cannabis'.Judge Dyal sentenced Bilal to seven years, two months and 21 days in prison, with Zachariya receiving seven years and 30 days.He said that they would have to serve two thirds of their terms before being released.