More than 100 police officers were mobilized on Monday to search for people involved in the kidnapping of a 65-year-old businessman in Shenzhen. Eight were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud, money laundering and illegal imprisonment, RTHK reports.
According to police investigations, the kidnapped man applied for a RMB100 million loan last year, intended for investment in Shenzhen, through a Hong Kong finance company.
According to The Standard, company employees posing as hired third-party consultants lured the victim to Shenzhen, promising to conduct an on-site assessment there.
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Upon arrival in Shenzhen, however, the victim was kidnapped and imprisoned for three days in a hotel, where he was both assaulted and denied food. Besides forcing him to sign a HKD6 million loan receipt and telling him to pay HKD1 million in cash to be released, the kidnappers also demanded HKD2.9 billion in ransom fees.
Shenzhen police rescued the victim on the third day and later arrested 27 in connection to the kidnapping, which is suspected to be part of a larger scheme run by a cross-border syndicate. Police also seized over 7,000 bank cards and 60,000 loan contracts, plus froze RMB6.2 million in assets thought to belong to the group.
Two brothers surnamed Wong are suspected to be in control of the syndicate, which operates finance and intermediary companies. According to The Standard, the Wongs may have kidnapped the businessman after he allegedly borrowed HKD3 million from them and refused to pay it back.
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[Cover image: video screengrab via RTHK]
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