Kidnapping suspects (not in order) Zhao Xu, 29 years old, Cai Xing Bao, 29 years old, Tia Xao Lin, 30 years old wait in handcuffs as they are presented to media at the Parañaque Police Station on Wednesday, January 10, 2017. The 3 suspects are arrested for alleged serious illegal detention and physical injuries of victim Lat Yun Chun, a Taiwanese national. INQUIRER PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
The Parañaque City police on Wednesday filed charges against three Chinese men who allegedly kidnapped a Taiwanese national to force his family into paying a P100,000 debt to a casino financier.
Lat Yun Chun, 38, was rescued by the police who found him in a room at Baymont Suites and Residences on Airport Road, Baclaran, on Tuesday afternoon.
Senior Supt. Leon Victor Rosete, the city police chief, said they had also arrested the victim’s Chinese abductors identified as Zhao Xu, 29; Cia Xing Bao, 29 and Tia Xao Lin, 30.
Chun had just left a casino in Pasay City on Jan. 7 when he was approached by the suspects who invited him to their hotel to talk about the P100,000 he owed to their boss, Rosete said in a press briefing.
Once they were at the hotel, the suspects refused to let Chun leave, with Zhao punching him repeatedly.
According to Chun, the suspects called up his family in Taiwan the following day and demanded a P100,000 ransom for his release.
The family, however, contacted the Manila Economic and Cultural Office, the Philippines’ representative office in Taiwan, which then alerted the Philippine National Police.
Chief Supt. Tomas Apolinario, Southern Police District director, said Chun had borrowed the P100,000 from a Chinese casino financier but lost the money in gambling. The identity of the financier has yet to be determined by PNP, which is also investigating if the Chinese suspects had Filipino accomplices.
According to Apolinario, Chun has been in the country for over a year. He used to work in Taguig City and turned to gambling after being laid off.
The Chinese suspects were charged with serious illegal detention and physical injuries in the Parañaque city prosecutor’s office.
“The case confirms reports that some foreign syndicates are engaged in kidnapping their fellow nationals who are in debt due to gambling and other financial problems,” Apolinario said.
He cited the case of Chinese casino junket operator Carlos Tan who was found dead along with his driver in Carmona, Cavite, on Oct. 27 last year. Six days earlier, Tan and his driver were abducted by four men—who turned out be active and inactive policemen—at Resorts World Manila in Pasay.
A follow-up operation ended with the four suspects killed in a shootout. The group’s leader was identified by PNP chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa as Supt. Johnny Orme, former head of the Parañaque police special operations and intelligence units.