Two brothers, Bilal and Zachariya Rakik, orchestrated a kidnapping that collapsed due to poor planning and insufficient funds from their victim's social circle. The pair lured Ali Almafraji to a Nando's restaurant in south-east London under false pretences, then abducted him at gunpoint and demanded a £30,000 ransom from his friends. The attempted crime unravelled when they were forced to reduce the ransom by 90 per cent to £3,000 after friends struggled to raise funds, and one mistook the threat for a joke. Police freed the victim in a dramatic armed raid after six hours in captivity.

The kidnapping was part of a scheme the brothers had planned for several weeks after targeting Almafraji for his perceived wealth. Using Zachariya's girlfriend as bait through a dating app, they used an imitation airsoft gun to threaten their victim, though he believed it was real. The Metropolitan Police's Flying Squad stopped the moving vehicle, shooting out its tyres and smashing windows to extract all three men. At Woolwich Crown Court, the brothers pleaded guilty to conspiracy to kidnap, conspiracy to blackmail and possession of an imitation firearm. Judge Dyal noted "obvious flaws in the plan" and sentenced Bilal to seven years, two months and 21 days, and Zachariya to seven years and 30 days, with both required to serve two-thirds of their terms before release.