By Jeffrey Damicog
Four Chinese nationals and a Filipina face kidnapping raps over the abduction of a Chinese who allegedly owed them gambling debts.
NBI spokesman Deputy Director Ferdinand Lavin
(PCOO / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO) National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Deputy Director Ferdinand Lavin said charges were filed last Sunday against the suspects before the Pasay City Prosecutor’s Office where they were presented for inquest. Those charged with kidnapping and serious illegal detention were Dong Daheng, Lu Lihui, Zhang Xiaolin, Ye Jintao and Filipina Ann Michelle Melendez. Lavin said charges were filed after agents of the NBI’s Special Action Unit (NBI-SAU) arrested the suspects at a hotel in Pasay City on the night of February 14/ The NBI official said the suspects were positively identified by the male Chinese victim as the same persons who held him captive at the hotel. Prior the arrest, the victim was released the same night near the Villamor airbase after his live-in partner and brother paid the suspects P400,000 in ransom money. The victim had been held against his will since he was taken on February 11 from a hotel at Newport Manila in Pasay City as the suspects demanded that he pay up for his gambling debts. Following his abduction, his live-in partner sought the help of the NBI in arresting the suspects.
NBI spokesman Deputy Director Ferdinand Lavin(PCOO / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO) National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Deputy Director Ferdinand Lavin said charges were filed last Sunday against the suspects before the Pasay City Prosecutor’s Office where they were presented for inquest. Those charged with kidnapping and serious illegal detention were Dong Daheng, Lu Lihui, Zhang Xiaolin, Ye Jintao and Filipina Ann Michelle Melendez. Lavin said charges were filed after agents of the NBI’s Special Action Unit (NBI-SAU) arrested the suspects at a hotel in Pasay City on the night of February 14/ The NBI official said the suspects were positively identified by the male Chinese victim as the same persons who held him captive at the hotel. Prior the arrest, the victim was released the same night near the Villamor airbase after his live-in partner and brother paid the suspects P400,000 in ransom money. The victim had been held against his will since he was taken on February 11 from a hotel at Newport Manila in Pasay City as the suspects demanded that he pay up for his gambling debts. Following his abduction, his live-in partner sought the help of the NBI in arresting the suspects.