A man charged in the brazen abduction and brutal captivity of a New York City businessman says he “made a mistake” but he’s “not a criminal.”

Eduardo Moncayo makes those remarks in a jail interview published Sunday by the Daily News. He and two others are being held without bail.

The newspaper says Moncayo refused to discuss the allegations but said he doesn’t belong in jail.

Businessman Pedro Portugal was found this week.

Police say he’d been held in a warehouse for more than a month. They say he was bound and burned with acid as captors demanded a $3 million ransom from his family in Quito, Ecuador.

Police say Moncayo flashed a fake police badge to get Portugal to stop on a street April 18.

(AP)