MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Daughter of Argentine tycoon kidnapped

Florencia Macri, 19, the youngest daughter of Argentine industrial magnate Franco Macri, was kidnapped here by abductors demanding $1.5 million in ransom, police officials said Thursday.

Mauricio Macri, president of Boca Juniors soccer club and himself a kidnap victim, confirmed the abduction of his sister and requested that reporters not interfere in negotiations with her captors.

"Please, my sister's life is at stake," Macri limited himself to saying Thursday to a group of reporters camped out across the street from his house in the posh Buenos Aires neighborhood of Palermo Chico.

Mauricio Macri, who is running for mayor of Buenos Aires in this year's elections, told reporters that neither he nor his family would make any more statements to the press. According to police sources, Florencia Macri was kidnapped on Tuesday night while driving home, a few minutes after leaving a Buenos Aires university.

Family patriarch Franco Macri did not report the crime to the police and is reportedly handling the negotiations with his daughter's kidnappers.

Born in Italy and living in Argentina for the past 50 years, Macri amassed a considerable fortune in the country with SOCMA, his industrial consortium.

On Aug. 23, 1991, Mauricio Macri was kidnapped by a gang of former police officers. He was released 14 days later after reportedly paying $6 million. The Macri family denies paying that ransom.

The ex-officers had been previously involved in state repression during the 1976-1983 military dictatorship. They were eventually arrested and sentenced to life in prison for kidnapping Macri and two other businessmen.