A Mexican mayor is facing explosive accusations that she helped stage her own kidnapping in a wild scheme to cover up millions in allegedly stolen public money.

Nancy Napoles, the municipal president of Tenancingo, is suspected of being at the center of an elaborate fake abduction plot involving a ransom demand of 40 million pesos, or roughly $2.3 million.

Prosecutors say the money was allegedly meant to look like a ransom payment, but was really already embezzled public cash that needed a cover story.

The shocking case has now put Napoles under intense scrutiny, while her husband and brother-in-law are reportedly on the run.

Authorities say Napoles was supposedly forced out of a car at gunpoint on May 31. Three people have since been arrested in connection with the alleged kidnapping, but investigators say the story began falling apart after they noticed key details did not line up.

According to prosecutors, the alleged kidnappers demanded the huge ransom in exchange for Napoles’ “freedom” and threatened to kill her and her family.

But police say a witness tipped them off, sparking an investigation that uncovered what they described as inconsistencies in the mayor’s account.

Prosecutors now believe the kidnapping may have been staged to justify the movement of money that had already been stolen from public funds.

Three suspects have been detained and identified by officials as Karla Valeria “N,” Víctor Manuel “N” and Christian “N.” Authorities also said they have requested a hearing involving a municipal public servant and have an active warrant for two more men allegedly connected to the case.

Those two men are reportedly Napoles’ husband and brother-in-law.

Napoles, who belongs to Mexico’s ruling Morena party, has denied wrongdoing and claimed the accusations against her are politically motivated.

In a video posted to social media, she insisted she is innocent and said she will cooperate with investigators so “the guilty actors are punished.”

The allegations come as Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum, also of the Morena party, has made fighting corruption a central promise of her presidency.

Napoles has been asked to give evidence on July 9 as prosecutors investigate what they called the alleged “simulation of a kidnapping.”

For now, no arrest warrant had been issued for Napoles at the time of the report.

But the stunning case has already triggered major attention, with prosecutors alleging that what first appeared to be a violent abduction may have actually been a carefully planned political money scheme.