A Toronto man accused of faking his own kidnapping was granted bail Wednesday morning.
Furqan Muhammad-Haroon, 22, kept his head in his hands and never looked at his family as he appeared in a Scarborough court.
He was released on $20,000 bail and confined to house arrest pending trial.
He will be allowed to attend work, school and counselling under the supervision of either his mother or older brother.
He returns to court September 29.
Haroon’s family did not speak tot he media outside of the courthouse, but a spokesman says they will be making a statement privately.
The family spokesman also said they are relieved their son is home.
Police said on Tuesday night they had found Muhammad-Haroon in St. Catharines, three days after he disappeared. They said he was not abducted.
Mr. Haroon had telephoned a friend on Saturday afternoon to say three armed men were following his green mini-van, trying to run him off the road. He said one was carrying a gun.
Police found Mr. Haroon’s van abandoned in an industrial complex in the east end of the city, but earlier on Tuesday, police raised doubts about the case when they revealed there was no reason to believe he was taken against his will.
Constable Wendy Drummond said days of investigation have not revealed anything that could verify the claim and downgraded the case to that of a missing person.
“We have no evidence to support the allegations of abduction,” Const. Drummond said.
Mr. Haroon had just stopped at a bank to pick up $2,000 to pay for a trip to visit his parents outside of the country, although it is not believed he obtained a ticket.
Investigators say witness statements and video surveillance from the industrial complex and from the bank could only confirm he was at those locations.
Mr. Haroon, a University of Toronto engineering student, had recently been fired from his job as an electrical engineering intern at IBM. On Aug. 13, York Regional Police charged him with theft under $5,000 following an investigation into missing equipment from the lab where he had worked. The arrest came after investigators reviewed security footage.
“An investigation revealed that computer-related equipment had been stolen from the IBM location on Warden Avenue in Markham,” Constable Marina Orlovski said.
Mr. Haroon is scheduled to appear in a Newmarket court to face that charge on Sept. 15.
On Monday, his parents arrived in Toronto from Abu Dhabi and made an impassioned plea for information into their son’s whereabouts, saying he did not know whether his son was alive or dead.
“Furqan is a lovely boy. Everybody loves him in the community,” said Haroon Muhammad, with his wife, Farhana, at his side. “I’m appealing to all Canadians, please come forward if you know anything about my boy.”
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