One of Bernie Ecclestone's helicopter pilots has been arrested over the kidnapping of the British business magnate's mother-in-law for a £28million ransom.
Jorge Eurico da Silva Faria, who would work for the Ecclestone family when they were in Brazil, has been taken into custody, along with two other men. He is alleged to be the mastermind of the kidnapping plot.
Bernie Ecclestone and Fabiana Flosi have been married since 2012
A spokesman for São Paulo police confirmed that Mr Silva Faria had been arrested, along with Vitor Oliveira Amorim, 19, and David Vicente Azevedo, 23. "The investigation continues and the police did not rule out the involvement of other suspects," he added.
Aparecida Schunck, the 67-year-old mother of Bernie's third wife Fabiana Flosi, was taken from her home in São Paulo on 22 July. She was rescued 10 days later by police, who found her tied up but otherwise unharmed in a house on the outskirts of the city.
Soon afterwards she had an emotional reunion with family member at a police station, where she told reporters: "I only ask for these bandits to be jailed so they can't abduct anyone else in São Paulo."
Fabiana's mother Aparecida Schunck was taken from her home on 22 July
Bernie, 85, and Fabiana, 38, remained at their home in England during the investigation. According to the BBC, the F1 boss had wanted to fly to Brazil to assist in the case, and had also offered to pay for a private security agency to help police, but he was advised to stay away.
Following Aparecida's safe return, Bernie told reporters: "I'm very happy. The last few days haven't been very good. This isn't a good thing to happen to you and your family.
"The police officers we dealt with were fantastic, they did an unbelievable job, it was absolutely first class. We are very, very, very happy with them."
