Police eyeing abducted Chinese woman’s husband as person of interest

MANILA, Philippines — The husband of Zhou Mei, the Chinese woman allegedly abducted in Makati City on Monday, is now being considered a person of interest by authorities.

Maj. Gideon Ines Jr., chief of the investigation division of the Makati City police, said they noted “inconsistencies” after interviewing Zhou’s partner, Chen Tangbin, at the Makati City police headquarters Tuesday afternoon.

“Maraming kasinungalingan yung nakukuha natin sa asawa [at] mga inconsistencies na pinangyarihan ng insidente (We unearthed many lies from the husband’s testimony. There were many inconsistencies with the location of the abduction incident),” Ines told reporters Wednesday.

Chen’s statement on the documents supposedly left behind by the woman is also doubtful, police said.

Ines said Chen, claimed that his wife brought the documents with her, but the viral video showed that Zhou did not carry any envelope or bag.

“Kineclaim niya yung parang ebidensya, tinanong namin ‘kung san galing, nung tanong bakit andito yung deed of sale na may briefcase?’ sabi, dala ng asawa daw niya. Nung video wala naman hawak yung asawa niya,” Chen said.

[When we were asking about the source of retrieved documents, we asked why was his deed of sale placed inside a briefcase? He said his wife had it with her. But the CCTV footage showed that she was not carrying anything.]

“Isa pang clue, bakit hawak hawak ng asawa niya yun yung deed of sale ano naman kinalaman nung asawa dun?” he added.

[One more thing, why was his wife carrying deed of sale? What is the connection of his wife with that document?]

Ines said the briefcase has a driver’s license, passports and an unsigned deed of sale which carried the name of a certain Jian Wei Zhu.

Ines said they also questioned Chen’s silence when asked about the identity of the suspects who abducted his wife.

“Silent siya dun tinanong din namin kung maaring kilala mo ba kung sino ang kumuha [kay Zhou] [He was silent when we asked if he has any idea on the identities of the suspects),”  he said.

Second person of interest

Investigators are likewise looking into the possible involvement of  “Zhu” in the abduction.

Ines said Zhu’s name was indicated as a vendee on the unsigned deed of sale that was recovered from the abduction scene.

Ines also noted that Zhu is also Chen’s friend.

“‘Yung kaibigan niya [Chen] na bibili ng sasakyan. May nakuha nalaglag sa van sa pinangyarihan, ‘yun [Zhu] yung person of interest,” Ines said.

[His friend who will buy a vehicle. We found the document from the abduction scene. Zhu is the person of interest.]

READ: Makati police: Alleged kidnap victim knows suspects

GSG