WGNO

70yo man says he was extorted out of $10K to save cat

FORT MYERS, FL — We’ll start out this story by telling you that the cat is ok!

An elderly Florida man claims he paid $10,000 in extortion money to save his precious cat.

The 70-year-old currently lives at a motel with two friends just outside of Fort Myers. That’s where he says he was approached by someone he knew at 10:30 a.m. on Monday. That man demanded $10,000 or he said he would harm his cat.

The victim says that he drove with the aggressor to the bank and withdrew $13,000, giving $10,000 to the bad guy.

After the transaction, the man called police. The victim said no weapons were involved but he would like to press charges.

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