Hotel boss jailed for ransom plot
A FORMER hotel manager who hired two "heavies" to hold his ex-business partner to ransom for £100,000 has been sentenced to six years' imprisonment.
An Old Bailey court heard how the desperate hotelier was caught when the "thugs" turned out to be undercover policemen.
Michael Koutas, of Southend-on-Sea, Essex, agreed to a plan that involved cutting off his alleged debtor's finger and post it through his wife's front door to get the money.
He believed that the Cypriot family of the intended victim, Georges Santos, would pay for his safe return.
The plan was revealed in covert tapes produced by the police.
In 1994 Santos, the defendant's cousin, bought Koutas's hotel in Wilmington Square in London but Koutas believed he was still owed money.
On taped evidence Koutas was heard to say he wanted to "bury" Santos once he had the money.
Judge Gerald Gordon said that even though the kidnap had not been carried out, it was a "vile offence".
Koutas pleaded guilty to incitement to kidnap and incitement to blackmail.
by David Waterston
