The British millionaire who was kidnapped in Ecuador was pictured with his Colombian girlfriend on Lake Como last year as police revealed the bomb vest she made the crooks wear was fake.
Former British Honorary Consul Colin Armstrong OBE was kidnapped a week ago along with his “romantic partner” Katherine Paolo Santos by 15 men wearing fake police uniforms.
While the 78-year-old has now been safely released, Ms Santos is said to have been questioned by police about her alleged involvement in the millionaire's kidnapping.
Photos taken in July last year show Mr Armstrong and Ms Santos at the luxurious “historic and romantic” Villa d'Este on Lake Como in Italy.
In the photos, the couple can be seen smiling and laughing carefree, while Mr Armstrong wears black and white shorts.
His glamorous girlfriend is wearing a purple bikini and gold earrings and drinking what looks like a cocktail by the pool.
The duo can be seen taking turns taking photos of each other before drying themselves off with matching blue towels and holding hands as they walk.
Villa d'Este is an “opulent five-star hotel” overlooking Lake Como and features a pool, tennis court and world-famous Italian Renaissance gardens.
Photos taken in July last year show Mr Armstrong and Ms Santos at the luxurious “historic and romantic” Villa d'Este on Lake Como in Italy
In the photos, the couple can be seen smiling and laughing carefree together, with Mr Armstrong dressed in black and white shorts as they take photos of each other
His glamorous girlfriend is wearing a purple bikini and gold earrings and holding hands
The duo can be seen taking turns taking photos of each other before drying themselves off with towels
The millionaire businessman – formerly known as “Our Man in Guayaquil” – was forced into his own black BMW at gunpoint and kidnapped last Saturday along with Ms. Santos, a Colombian model and pole dancer.
Just hours later, Ms. Santos reappeared at a gated property believed to belong to Mr. Armstrong's son Nick, wearing, she claimed, a bomb vest that would explode if a ransom for Mr. Armstrong was not paid to the gang behind it his kidnapping.
But when bomb disposal officers in protective gear removed the vest, they later discovered it was a fake.
At around 11pm on Tuesday evening, three days after Ms Santos' release, Mr Armstrong was picked up by police and found wandering on a main road in the coastal province of Manabi, about 150 miles southwest of the capital Quito.
But while the Policia Nacional del Ecuador has already made nine arrests and confiscated a huge amount of weapons, grenades, detonators and drugs, serious questions remain for investigators, including whether or not Mr. Armstrong's kidnappers had help from someone with insider knowledge .
And who is the mysterious Ms. Santos who has been at Mr. Armstrong's side in recent years, considering that just 18 months ago, at an event attended by hundreds of people, Mr. Armstrong publicly paid tribute to his wife Cecilia, whom he got married 49 years ago? his employees?
Since a former local deputy publicly implicated Santos in the crime, she was reportedly questioned by police about her alleged involvement in the kidnapping plot.
Meanwhile, father-of-three Mr Armstrong is said to be “safe and well” after police released a photo of him smiling for the camera in a police baseball cap and long-sleeved T-shirt – remarkable, considering considering everything he's been through in the last week.
The couple appeared to be enjoying their stay as they posed playfully by the pool
Katherine Paola Santos even managed to convince Mr. Armstrong to swim in the sea
But while the 78-year-old has now been safely released, Ms Santos is said to have been questioned by police about her alleged involvement in the millionaire's kidnapping
Ms Santos was pictured next to the villa's pool sipping a cocktail
Villa d'Este is an “opulent five-star hotel” overlooking Lake Como and features a pool, tennis court and world-famous Italian Renaissance gardens
Villa d'Este is a 16th-century villa in Tivoli, near Rome, famous for its terraced Italian Renaissance garden and, most notably, its abundance of fountains
Few gardens have been painted or drawn by as many artists as the Villa d'Este, particularly during the Renaissance and 19th century. As a result, the garden's features influenced other gardens across Europe, from England to Russia
Blackmail is one of the allegations that police have made against those arrested for his kidnapping.
Police sources said evidence found in raids this week suggested last weekend's kidnapping was planned down to the smallest detail.
Gang members arrived in the early hours of Saturday morning at the Rodeo Grande, where the Armstrong family coat of arms and the family motto “Trans Mare Video” – “I see beyond the sea” hang next to the gate.
Staff who tried to stop them were beaten on the way to the room where “Mr Colin”, as he is known to his staff, was sleeping.
A short video taken by an employee after the raid showed blood stains on sheets and the floor of a room.
Mr. Armstrong was forced at gunpoint with Ms. Santos into his own black BMW with diplomatic plates. After satellite tracking was activated, police later found the car abandoned.
Within hours, news of the kidnapping spread throughout Ecuadorian media, along with several photos from Ms. Santos' social media accounts, suggesting a close relationship between him and Ms. Santos. In one they appear to be on safari in Africa; in another visit to Egypt.
There are photos of them in beach clothes, with a delighted-looking Mr. Armstrong in a moustache, Panama hat and shorts, bearing more than a passing resemblance to British actor Terry-Thomas, wrapping his arms around a seemingly devoted Ms. Santos.
There is also video footage of Mr. Armstrong aboard a luxury yacht with dozens of other scantily clad young women to mark what appeared to be Ms. Santos' 30th birthday.
Pictures on TikTok show wealthy businessman Colin Armstrong and his partner Ms. Santos enjoying a jet-setting lifestyle before their abduction on Saturday
Colin Armstrong, 78, and his partner Katherine Paola Santos are pictured on a yacht
Video footage has now appeared on social media that appears to show his girlfriend's explosive vest being removed by a bomb disposal expert
On her LinkedIn page, Ms. Santos, who is listed on the books of Ecuadorian modeling agency Studio Moda, says she has worked for Agripac since 2013.
The company, which sells everything from seeds to fertilizer to pet food, uses models, often dressed as cowgirls, for advertising purposes, and Ms. Santos has appeared in photos with Mr. Armstrong taken at the Rodeo Grande as far back as 2014.
Given his high profile, it is perhaps not surprising that large amounts of Ecuadorian police resources have been devoted to ensuring Mr. Armstrong's safe return this week.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office confirmed it had also been supporting the Ecuadorian authorities. British secret services are also said to have supported the police operation.
So far nine people, one foreigner and eight Ecuadorians, have been arrested. It is unknown whether any ransom was paid.
However, as the kidnapping highlights the deteriorating security situation in the country, police authorities are still investigating this extraordinarily daring kidnapping plot and following up on several leads.
Speaking to the Mail this week, General Freddy Sarzosa Guerra, the police's head of investigations, said: “The investigation here is that it was a kidnapping for money and the motive was economic.”
On Wednesday, Cesar Augusto Zapata Correa, Ecuador's police chief, tweeted that Mr. Armstrong had been found near Manabi, not far from Los Rios, and had been kidnapped
Police revealed the cache seized from the gang, including five grenades
The gang suspects they are behind the kidnapping of millionaire Colin Armstrong
The Armstrong family has requested privacy for now as they recover from last week's shocking events.
“The entire British family, staff and friends are delighted with the result and look forward to a happier Christmas,” said Leo Morris, director of the Tupgill Park Estate, where he grew up and is considered an “adoptive son” by Mr. Armstrong.
The Manchester-born businessman is no stranger to danger, the Mail can reveal.
After traveling the world as a young man for the then British chemical company ICI, he founded his own agricultural sales company, Agripac, in Ecuador, where he has lived for half a century.
Over the decades, his extraordinary life has been marked by more dramatic moments than most people would expect in a career.
From devastating floods and military coups to the murder of one of his former managers who died while trying to fend off armed robbers, Mr. Armstrong has certainly seen his fair share of trouble over the last five decades.
Barely a year into his role as honorary consul and in the midst of the Falklands War, he was forced to fend off pro-Argentine sympathizers who showed up at the British consulate in Guayaquil and demanded a Union Jack be burned.
While Mr Armstrong socialized with the likes of Princess Anne and entertained former Tory minister John Gummer and former Tory MP David Mellor in his consular role, he also had to contend with cattle thieves and hire armed guards to patrol his ranch and in the The property was uninhabited.
Reports from Ecuador this week said Mr. Armstrong was kidnapped after he refused to pay monthly protection money.
His son Nick, who took over his father's consular role in 2016, previously headed the British-Ecuadorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
He also works as a director of the Ripon Race Company in North Yorkshire and helps his father run Agripac.