by A British model manager who was kidnapped and held hostage in Italy for six days has given her side of the story after the release of a BBC drama recreating the ordeal.
During the trial the Italian court would later hear that Herba introduced ketamine to Chloe, handcuffed her and put her in a suitcase before driving to a house in Viu, near Turin, in the boot of his car.
A gang calling itself the Black Death Group has demanded £270,000 or be sold as a sex slave on the dark web. But six days later she turned up at the British consulate in Milan, despite any ransom demands being paid, the Mirror reported.
READ MORE: I thought ‘Thank God maybe everything is okay’. Then police knocked on my door
In the seven years since her ordeal, Chloe still has doubts about her story, accused of profiting from it and using it as a publicity stunt. Her former agent, Phil Green, who was at the heart of the saga, says that in her mind there is no way it is staged.
The booking was made through Phil’s Supermodel Agency in July 2017 – but the kidnapper had already tried to book a few months earlier, for a shoot in Paris in March.
Phil said: “I was approached by a photographer called Andre Lazio about a motorcycle shoot in Paris. He specifically asked Chloe.
“I did my due diligence, asked questions about the job, checked his website, asked where and when the shoot would take place, got the address of the studio and checked samples of previous work. I’ve been doing this job for 30 years and I always do all the necessary checks, but there’s no way you could have predicted something like this.”
Phil said: “All the boxes were ticked. His studio was called ‘Bellissmafique’. I even checked the address on Google maps. Chloe was more than happy to take the job. He paid £900 in advance.”
When she traveled to France in April things went wrong. Phil said: “I turned on the TV and saw there had been a terror attack in Paris, a policeman had been killed. Horrified, I called Chloe immediately. She said she could hear a noise outside and I told her to stay in the hotel.”
The next morning the photographer called and said his studio was vacated and the shoot was off. Herba then visited the hotel to pay Chloe £90 to see her for the day.
Phil said: “He emailed a few days later to apologize saying he was leaving Paris because it was too dangerous to return to Milan.”
He booked Chloe again for the job on 11 July. Phil said: “We discussed all the details again and it paid off. We even discussed sizes so he could get leathers into her. He sent pictures of his new studio with the same ‘Bellissmafique’ sign.”
Chloe arrived in Italy on July 10 and Phil spoke to her that night as she went out for a meal.
The photo shoot was due to take place at 8.30am on the 11th – but that evening he received a frantic call from Chloe’s mum. He said: “I’ve never spoken to her before. She was concerned that Chloe hadn’t touched her. I sent messages to the photographer and tried to call but it was late and I got no answer.
“I checked with the airline and she had not boarded the flight. Chloe had a photoshoot in Ibiza on July 13th and I thought she might have gone straight there. I tried to call her but her phone rang with a foreign voice.”
The next morning, July 12, he told Chloe’s mother to call the police – then at around 10am he received the terrifying ransom email.
The message said: “We have Chloe and we are the Black Death Group. If you don’t pay us by Sunday she will be auctioned off to be sold to the Russian mafia.”
The email also contained the names of three wealthy businessmen who could pay the ransom. Phil said: “He said they could be contacted to get the money. The names must have come from Chloe, people she knew through work, because she knew I didn’t have the money. After seeing that email I was just frozen to the spot. I’ve never seen anything like that before. I was in complete shock.”
He immediately called the police in Milan, but was told he had to report a missing person in person. “My first call was to the British consulate in Milan, they took it very seriously. They said they would be involved with the Foreign Office’s special crimes unit.”
He then received a call from the Met Police – who had been contacted by Chloe’s mother. “I told them what I found and they gave it to my local force in the East Midlands. In almost no time the police were at my house.
“They took all my emails and dealt with all contact with the kidnappers. It was a slow process, there could be hours and hours between messages from Italy. They controlled everything, gave me updates, but kept all the details to themselves.
“Very senior officers were in my house 24/7 for the better part of a week, they are specially trained in negotiation. They were very calm, very professional.”
When the police were at his house they received an email with pictures of Chloe in the suitcase. During the negotiations the kidnap gang was demanding £270,000, but the police told them they could only pay £20,000.
“It was terrible. I didn’t know what I could do to help,” said Phil. “It went on for days, but then on Sunday they confirmed they were giving up because there had been developments in Italy. They told me that Chloe was safe and sound. It was a great relief.”
Chloe had to stay in Italy for a while to give her statement, but Phil later paid for her flight back to the UK. But when she was back home she turned it around and signed with a London publicity agent.
He said: “It was very disappointing when that happened after all I’ve done for her during her modeling career, but what can you do?”
He added: “Chloe said she hopes the show will stop people questioning her.
“Chloe was accused of faking the kidnapping, using it as a publicity stunt. I don’t think that will ever change, online conspiracy theories will never die.
“I was there during the time when it happened and it was scary for me, he believes he was being managed on stage.”
“But the way she behaved after she was released, she seemed to like all the attention. All the press and TV interviews, going on Celebrity Big Brother. I think she made some bad decisions, people thought she could get money.”
In the media spotlight at the time, Chloe told the BBC: “It was so overwhelming and overwhelming – but I was happy to be home, I was happy it was over – so why shouldn’t I to be smiling?”
Her kidnapper was convicted of kidnapping and sentenced to 16 years and nine months in prison, later reduced to 12 years and one month.
During the investigation, Herba’s brother, Michał Konrad Herba, who also ran a transport logistics company, was arrested. Email and forensic evidence linked him to the case and he was sentenced to 16 years and one month, which was also reduced to 5 years and 8 months on appeal.
Phil added that even now, seven years after the abduction, he still receives many inquiries to book Chloe for modeling work. And he said he believes she was targeted after seeing her on social media, with her Instagram following rising.
“Models put everything up there. I have no doubt that the attacker was an Instagram follower. They saw how many followers she had and in their minds they thought they could attract a higher ransom. I think it’s a bit dangerous, you don’t know who’s watching you, checking up on you.”
Speaking about the drama Kidnapped, Phil said he felt some things were unfair.
He said: “I showed very little sympathy for Chloe, and they were very unsympathetic to me, But that didn’t really surprise me.
“There was no scene that showed all the work I did to help you, all the contacts I made, all the extensive conversations with the authorities in Italy and the UK. I know it says in the credits that characters are used for dramatic purposes, but I don’t think it was fair.”
A BBC spokesperson said: “The production team carried out extensive research, drawing on Chloe Ayling’s book, court transcripts and interviews with Chloe and other individuals including lawyers, police officers, and Phil Green.”
