The Taiwan High Court yesterday upheld a 12-and-a-half-year sentence for a Taiwanese man suspected of involvement in the kidnapping of Hong Kong billionaire Wong Yuk-kwan (黃煜坤), who was snatched off the street in New Taipei City in September 2015.
The court said evidence presented in the initial case indicated that Kan Chun-sung (甘俊松), 54, was the mastermind behind the kidnapping of Wong, 70, who was then chairman of the Pearl Oriental Oil Group and was in Taiwan for medical treatment.
Police rescued Wong from a run-down house in Yunlin County’s Kouhu Township (口湖) , 38 days after being informed by his family on Sept. 20, 2015, that he had been kidnapped in New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店).
Photo: CNA
During that period, the kidnappers demanded in e-mails and telephone calls that Wong’s family pay a ransom of HK$70 million (US$8.96 million at the current exchange rate) in bitcoin for his release.
Kan fled to the Philippines before police suspected his involvement in the case, but was extradited to Taiwan and was in November last year escorted back by Criminal Investigation Bureau officers.
Kan has denied any involvement in the case and can appeal the ruling.
Several of Kan’s suspected accomplices, including two key suspects surnamed Tsai (蔡) and Lin (林), were arrested in late October 2015 and were handed prison sentences ranging from seven to 12 years.
The two men said Kan was the mastermind behind the kidnapping.
Kan was also identified by a member of the bureau as a known gang member active in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山).
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