Fiat Heir on NYC Coke Bender Fakes Own Kidnapping for Drug, Hooker Money: Reports

KIPS BAY, NY — Fiat Automobiles scion Lapo Elkann faked his own kidnapping to score cash for drugs during a two-day bender at a transgender escort's apartment in Kips Bay, according to a slew of juicy reports in the New York Daily News and other gobal news outlets.

Elkann, the 39-year-old grandson of former Fiat CEO Gianni Agnelli, has since been arrested for making a false police report.

Elkann co-founded Italia Independent, a design company that designs high-end eyewear. According to the New York Times, he's a notorious playboy with well-publicized drug problems — including a 2005 incident in which he reportedly cocaine-d himself into a coma while partying, again, in the apartment of a prostitute.

Here's the timeline of his most recent bender, according to the Daily News: Elkann flew into NYC on Thanksgiving; went to a 29-year-old transgender woman's apartment in the public Strauss Houses complex on East 28th Street, in the Kips Bay area of eastern Manhattan; did cocaine and smoked pot with her for two full days; then ran out of money.

In search of money for more drugs, Elkann reportedly called family members over the weekend, told them he was being held by a woman demanding a ransom of $10,000 and begged them to pay her what she wanted.

A representative for the family reportedly complied, but dropped off the $10,000 cash at the police station. Soon after, cops located Elkann and the escort in front of the Kips Bay housing project and took them in for questioning, according to the U.K. Guardian.

When cops discovered the false report was Elkann's idea, he was charged with "falsely reporting an incident" — a misdemeanor.

"The Agnelli family's social and personal lives have fascinated Italians for decades and Agnelli family tragedies have elicited comparisons to those of the Kennedy dynasty in the United States," the Guardian reported Tuesday.

Photo by Thomas Angermann/Flickr