Two suspected accomplices to the kidnapping and killing of a business tycoon based in Greater Taichung last week were apprehended yesterday in Pingtung and Yunlin counties respectively, police announced.
The suspects, a 31-year-old surnamed Lin (林) and a 25-year-old surnamed Cheng (鄭), were being questioned by prosecutors as of press time. The victim, identified by local media as Shih Chia-chin (施家金), was confirmed dead late on Sunday after being missing for a week in an abduction apparently carried out with the help of the billionaire’s personal chauffeur, police said.
The decomposing body of the 57-year-old was found in the mountains of Greater Tainan after he was abducted early on Aug. 18 upon returning from a trip to the US, according to the police, who added that Shih had been picked up at the airport by his chauffeur.
Photo courtesy of the National Police Agency
Some local newspapers identified the chauffeur as Hsieh Yuan-hsin (謝源信), a 39-year-old who worked for Shih for more than four years.
After he was taken, Shih called his family and told them to transfer NT$30 million (US$1 million) to a bank account designated by his kidnappers, police said.
“Do it or I won’t be able to come home,” Shih was quoted as telling his family.
His family completed the transfer, but after Shih still did not turn up, they called the police later that day, investigators said.
Police said they reviewed surveillance camera footage and determined that the chauffeur had three accomplices who abandoned Shih’s Mercedes-Benz in Greater Tainan after the abduction. It took them two days to find the victim’s body in the remote mountainous area after they had first located the abandoned vehicle.
Hsieh reportedly fled to Thailand using a relative’s passport on the night of the abduction, the police said. Hours earlier, he reportedly tried to transfer a large amount of money from a bank in the municipality, but gave up when a teller appeared to have become suspicious.
The victim, who made his fortune from an online gambling business, became a billionaire by investing in real estate and operating hypermarkets both domestically and abroad.
During their search for the victim, the police found substantial amounts of blood in Shih’s car and in a Greater Taichung motel where the victim was believed to have been taken shortly after his abduction.
A prosecutor leading the investigation has questioned and released two people in relation to the case, including the man whose passport Hsieh reportedly used to leave the country.
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