Poker champ claims he was kidnapped by gang as part of blackmail scheme
The FBI is reportedly investigating claims by the family of mid-stakes poker champion George Janssen that he was kidnapped and held captive for more than a month.
The 41-year-old father from Michigan was found tied up and covered in blood on the side of a rural road in Bad Ax, Michigan, on December 16, WJRT-TV/Flint reported. He told passers-by that he had successfully escaped his kidnappers.
A family member who reported Jensen missing on Nov. 13 told WJRT that Jensen was abducted by two or three people and taken to the Toledo area, where he was held captive in the basement of a home for 35 days .
On December 16, news stations reported that Jensen had apparently been returned to Michigan.
"It's our understanding that he was brought here to recover the hidden funds and then deliver them to these two assailants," Huron County Sheriff Kelly Hanson told WJRT.
Jensen, a former owner of a Michigan car dealership, has four championship rings from the World Poker Tour, a series of casino poker tournaments held annually since 2005 until the World Series of Poker.
Jensen's family said he had complained of repeated extortion for at least two years. Since 2015, his monetary earnings have really started to take off. His winnings now total just over $200,000 online and in person, including two career-high wins of $83,000 and $80,000 on the Mid-States Poker Tour within 90 days of his disappearance.
"We can't confirm if this happened. But there are a lot of things to consider," Hansen told the news station.
All reports from the Huron County Sheriff's Department, Bad Ax Police Department and Monroe County Sheriff's Department have been turned over to the FBI, WJRT reported.
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Source: www.casino.org
