Poker Loser Arrested After Attempted Kidnapping
June 4, 2012 2:59 pmA Florida resident who lost $100k playing poker over a five year period is now behind bars after hatching a plot to kidnap and extort $15 million from a local wealthy man.
Talking about his intended crime, gambling man Michael Melillo, 50, of Palm Beach said he targeted his unnamed victim because he believed the man received some of the money from his poker losses. Michael Melillo also said he needed the ransom money to ensure a “good quality of life” for his two and a half year old son, with reports stating he was even prepared to dismember or murder his intended victim if the money was not forthcoming.
Apparently, Michael Melillo had been plotting to kidnap the man for years, and had enlisted a partner in crime in the guise of Pavlos Kaimacliotis, 38, of Jupiter. Unbeknownst to Michael Melillo, however, the FBI were onto his scheme with an article by Gossip Extra indicating Melillo‘s alleged plot was told to the FBI by his 29 year old Latvian wife, Dace, (pictured right) who discovered he had been cheating on her with a Russian friend.
An undercover agents posing as professional kidnappers then meet him several times to discuss details of the plot, including where to set up his alibi, whether the man or his daughter would make the best target, and if he was prepared to have the man killed.
Continuing their elaborate sting, the FBI then received an initial payment of $5,000 in cash for the kidnapping and even staged a photo of the crime to convince Melillo, who subsequently rang his victim’s wife and negotiated a $12.5 million ransom. After the money was retrieved, Melillo and Kaimacliotis were arrested and now face a number of federal charges, including conspiracy to kidnap, attempted kidnapping and extortion.
In the meantime, Pavlos Kaimacliotis’ next door neighbour Kathy Steiner was shocked to hear the news and commented: “It’s unbelievable. Just sounds like something a fiction writer would make up. I see that family everyday, a very close knit family, darling little girls.”