The Yunlin District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday filed a motion with the Yunlin District Court to detain four Vietnamese migrant workers and a Taiwanese national over the alleged kidnapping and possible murder of Vietnamese national.
The filing came after the five people were arrested on Wednesday for their suspected involvement in the kidnapping and death of a 24-year-old Vietnamese worker, surnamed Vu, who was employed in Taoyuan.
Prosecutors said that they were concerned that if the suspects were released, they would pose a flight risk and coordinate their testimony.
Photo: Huang Shu-li, Taipei Times
Yunlin Distrcit Prosecutor Chu Chi-jen (朱啟仁) said that his office was made aware of the case by the Taoyuan Police Department’s Jhongli Precinct on Tuesday.
A special task force made up of multiple police departments and the National Immigration Agency initiated an investigation, Chu said, narrowing the list of suspects to four Vietnamese migrant workers and a Taiwanese national.
Led by Yunlin District Prosecutor Yan Li-jing (顏鸝靚), the task force searched the premises occupied by the suspects on Wednesday and arrested three Vietnamese men identified only by their surnames, Le, Hoang and Vu-Duy, Chu said.
It also brought in a Vietnamese woman named Nguyen, and a Taiwanese man surnamed Hsu (許).
In a statement, prosecutors said Le and Nguyen were a couple, and they allegedly began planning to hold Vu for ransom as early as last month after Nguyen became acquainted with the victim online.
Once the couple gained information on Vu’s family finances, they devised a plan to have Nguyen persuade Vu to travel from Taoyuan to Douliou City (斗六) in Yunlin County.
When Vu showed up, Le and the others allegedly forced him into a vehicle and held him against his will in a factory dormitory somewhere in the county’s Sihhu Township (四湖), prosecutors said.
The suspects then allegedly called Vu’s father in Vietnam via video to demand a ransom of 200 million dong (US$7,988).
However, after the elder Vu wired the money, the suspects continued to hold the victim in a motel, intending to extort more money from Vu’s family, prosecutors said.
Investigators found that while captive, Vu had tissue paper stuffed into his mouth and tape wrapped around his eyes, mouth and nose to prevent him from calling for help.
Vu eventually died, which might have been caused by his treatment, the task force said, which prompted the suspects to bury his body on a Baojhong Township (褒忠) sugarcane farm, prosecutors said.
On Thursday, the task force took the suspects to the sugarcane farm where the decomposing corpse was found, prosecutors said.
Fingerprint matching showed that the deceased was Vu, and an autopsy confirmed Vu’s cause of death.
Prosecutors said they believe the five suspects kidnapped Vu for ransom, which violates Article 348-1 of Taiwan’s Criminal Code.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS