By Martin A. Sadongdong
Three Chinese were arrested by the Parañaque City police for allegedly kidnapping and mauling a Taiwanese in a hotel in Parañaque last Jan. 7.
Senior Supt. Victor Rosete, Parañaque police chief, identified the suspects as Zhao Xu, 29; Cai Xing Bao, 29; and Tia Xao Lin, 30.
The suspects were arrested after the victim, Lat Yun Chun, 38, was rescued in the hotel last Jan. 9.
According to Rosete, Chun went to a casino in Pasay on Jan. 7 to play where he met the suspects.
Chun apparently had a P100,000 debt to the suspects’ financier which he lost in a casino. The identity of the Chinese financier was not immediately known as police had a difficult time talking to the three suspects.
The suspects claimed their financier wanted to meet Chun. However, Chun was led to the suspects’ room in their hotel where he was kept as a kidnap victim.
Chun managed to produce P60,000 but seeing that it was not enough, the suspects called his family in Taiwan and demanded them to meet them in Parañaque and pay R100,000 for the release of the victim.
The family of Chun then coordinated with the Taiwan Economic Culture Office, which asked for the help of the Parañaque police and the eventual rescue of the victim around 2 p.m. of Jan. 9 at the hotel.
Rosete said the suspects did not resist arrest during the rescue operation.
Chun sustained wounds in his hands, Rosete said. He told police that Xu hit him with a belt at one point.
“The arrest confirms the report that some foreign syndicates are engaged in this type of kidnapping for ransom crime, victimizing their fellow nationals who are indebted due to gambling and other financial problems,” Rosete said.