Police have identified the four Chinese nationals behind the abduction of a POGO (Philippine online gaming operation) area manager in Makati City as another possible motive behind the kidnapping cropped up.
Major Gideon Ines Jr., Makati City Police Investigation Unit chief, identified the suspects as Song Xifei, Guo Ebin, Zhang Xipeng, and Guo Wanshun.
He said on Sunday that all of them are POGO workers based on the retrieved identification cards.
He bared that the owner of the Chrysler Town Country van, which was used to abduct Zhou Mei, went to Makati Police after learning that the vehicle he sold to Wanshun in October was used in kidnapping.
Mei was abducted in Makati City on December 9 along Paseo de Roxas in Barangay San Lorenzo, Makarti.
“The owner of the car, who is also a Chinese national, voluntarily went to our office and told us that the car seen being used to abduct Mei was his car before. He said that he sold it to Wanshun for P600, 000 in October,” Ines said.
“He wanted to clear his name because his Chinese friends told him that it was his car that was used by the abductors,” he added.
He then informed the police of the address of Washun in Pasay City.
On Friday night, Ines and his team immediately went to the two-bedroom condo unit being rented by Washun.
“We abruptly went there for a follow-up operation. We retrieved identification cards of the suspects, Washun’s expired passport, and handcuffs,” he said.
However, Ines said the suspects were not found in the condo unit which was cluttered, an indication that they left the place in a hurry.
The cops proceeded to the house being rented by Washun in Paranaque City, but they were also not there.
“Recovered at the house being rented in Paranaque was the lease of contract between Washun and the Filipino owner of the house. The document revealed that he was paying P40,000 a month. We also found his postdated cheques,” he said.
“Their neighbor in Paranaque said that he saw four Chinese men manhandling a Chinese woman outside the Chrysler van. He said that he saw them park the van near the house they are renting,” Ines added.
Based on the Bureau of Immigration (BI) data, Ines said, Washun left the country on December 12 via Philippine Airlines.
“We believe that he is the head of their group. And he could still be operating the group remotely,” he said.
Ines said police are also looking into another motive behind the incident, adding they received information that Mei took important data from her workplace.
“We have informants saying that she was abducted because she took sensitive data from the company she works for,” the Investigation Unit chief said.
“The company allegedly wants the data back, according to our informants.”
On the other hand, Ines said they are not discounting the possibility that her husband has something to do with abduction.
“There is still no sign of eagerness to file a case from the husband of the victim,” he said.
Earlier, Chen Tangbin, the husband of Mei, claimed that there were people calling him and asking for a P60-million ransom in exchange for the liberty of his wife. (Jel Santos)