Brazilian police free Ecclestone's kidnapped mother-in-law

Aparecida Schunck, the 67-year-old mother of Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone's wife, Fabiana Flosi, has been freed after being abducted from her Sao Paulo house last month, according to several reports.

The criminals who kidnapped Ms Schunck were asking for a payment of 120 million reais (which is approximately £28 million), an amount that was believed to be the highest ever in the country's history.

Globo News reported that Ecclestone’s mother-in-law was found uninjured at a farmhouse near Sao Paolo on Sunday night after a police operation described as "major" by Elisabete Sato of the Sao Paulo Police.

Sato told the BBC that no ransom was paid while two suspects were arrested after their phone calls had been tracked.

Fabiana Flosi is Ecclestone's third wife, the couple met at the 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix where Fabiana worked and have been married since 2012.

The F1 boss’s worth is estimated at $3.1 billion by Forbes magazine. Ecclestone initially wanted to travel to Brazil upon hearing of the kidnapping but the 85-year-old was advised that it might be counterproductive.

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