The 43-year-old Swede came into a police station to report his own abduction. The man had been kidnapped by two men who had demanded money before dumping him off in the historic city of Nuremberg in southern Germany.

Police conducted a large-scale search for the two supposed kidnappers. But the man's story began to fall apart under questioning.

The man eventually admitted that he had left Sweden to get away from problems at home. His wife had reported him missing and the man came up with the kidnapping story to explain his absence.

Police said the man is under investigation for faking a crime, according to the Associated Press news agency. Prosecutors ordered him to pay 3,000 euros ($3,800) bail.