A US judge on holiday in Rio de Janeiro hired two sex workers before he was kidnapped and held for ransom by two men who were posing as police officers.
The man's name has not been released but Brazilian authorities say he arrived in the country on July 3.
The US tourist said he had known the two women, identified as Shayna Monteiro and Beatriz Freitas, from his previous trips to Rio de Janeiro.
He invited the women to the apartment he was renting out in the Copacabana area of Rio.
CCTV footage shows the two women leaving the apartment around 11.30am and then returning an hour later, accompanied by two policemen, Erivaldo da Silva and Alef dos Santos, who followed them into the judge's holiday rental.
The tourist was soon apprehended, with the police saying the two girls were underage.
The man was held in custody in the North Zone of Rio and police refused to release him unless a ransom was paid.
The police then contacted a female friend of the judge who lives in Rio de Janeiro and after several hours of negotiations, they settled on a whopping $36,000 (£30,000) payment.
The woman reached out to a member of the military police department and with the assistance of a kidnapping police unit he was released at a meeting point.
Authorities now understand that the two young girls were conspiring with da Silva and dos Santos on the kidnapping.
Da Silva has been identified as the leader of a gang that operates in the West Zone of Rio and was on parole for not serving his full term of a 15-year sentence for illegal possession.
He has now been charged with extortion and kidnapping.
Rio de Janeiro authorities are still searching for two further men linked to the kidnapping, including one individual who was spotted in the lobby of the holiday rental.
The welfare and safety of U.S. citizens abroad is one of the highest priorities of the Department of State, a State Department spokesperson told the Daily Mail, however they could not comment on this specific case.
