The Sunday Tribune has learned of a second fake kidnap incident which comes less than two weeks after a Tallaght man falsely claimed that he had been abducted in order to make his father pay a ransom.

A 26-year-old woman was out shopping with her mother three weeks ago and left saying she would see her at home later.

She didn't go home that night and the following morning the woman's father received a call from a man with a northern accent saying that his daughter had been kidnapped and would only be released if a 50,000 ransom was paid.

The woman's father received a redundancy payout of over 150,000 from his job in a factory late last year and went to the bank and withdrew the money but decided against paying it and instead contacted gardai.

A massive garda operation immediately begun and officers monitored several calls from the suspected kidnapper who sounded very convincing and made serious threats against the woman if the ransom was not paid.

An investigation into the supposed victim's background revealed she was romantically involved with a man in his 40s from Belfast who has a long criminal record and is involved in the republican movement.

She had recently fallen on hard times and was desperate to get her hands on money. Gardai began to suspect that the kidnap was a hoax and traced the calls to Dundalk.

The phone calls continued and the man was getting more desperate and frustrated.

The following afternoon the woman walked into Omeath garda station with severe bruising caused by a beating and required medical treatment. It was subsequently determined that her boyfriend had beaten her on purpose in order to cover their tracks.

The 26-year-old is now cooperating with the garda investigation and has admitted that her abduction was a hoax. She stayed in a caravan in Dundalk for the two days she was supposedly held and is now facing charges of wasting police time and attempted extortion. A file is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions but gardai have not yet been able to find the woman's boyfriend to interview him.

No photographs of the supposed victim were sent to her father unlike the case two weeks ago when a man from Tallaght staged a photograph of himself tied up as one of the fake gang members held a gun to his head.

The man's girlfriend was in on the deception and went to his father's business in south Co Dublin and showed him the picture and told him that the gang wanted 50,000 to release the hostage.

Gardai from the Emergency Response Unit and National Surveillance Unit, as well as local detectives from Tallaght, were involved in the investigation.