A prosperous Chinese individual was abducted from his apartment in Bangkok, Thailand, on Friday. He was forced into a plastic container and transported to Hua Hin for the night.
A group of Thai abductors, including his former beauty pageant participant ex-girlfriend, demanded a sum of nearly 4 million baht to ensure his freedom.
As it happens, the victim is sought for fraud in China. All six individuals involved in the case have been apprehended.
On Saturday, the victim’s acquaintance Yu went to Lumpini Police Station and informed them that he had received a worrisome video call from his friend Wang the day before.
“You don’t need to report this to the police. They will release me if they receive the money,” Wang informed his friend. However, Yu became uneasy about Wang’s battered appearance and opted to contact the police.
Officers investigating the case state that the victim previously had a Thai girlfriend named Nampetch, with whom he had a relationship for around one year. They separated three months prior and recently reconciled.
According to the police, 24-year-old Nampetch is an ex-beauty queen who participated in the Miss Grand Suphan Buri competition in 2020.
Authorities have stated that Nampetch was aware of Wang’s wealth and assets. Furthermore, Wang is sought after in China on an arrest warrant, rendering him a simple kidnap for ransom target since he would be unlikely to approach the police.
The police think that Nampetch and her secondary boyfriend, known as “Guy,” conspired to orchestrate the kidnapping and employed the BMW that Wang purchased for Nampetch to carry out the crime.
At 7 pm on Friday, the group arrived at Wang’s condominium in Sathorn and accessed it with the spare key Wang had given to Nampetch, entering his 17th-floor residence.
The abductors bound Wang’s hands and feet and utilized his phone to request a luggage cart from the building staff. Subsequently, one of the abductors acquired a large plastic container.
Wang was squeezed into the container, placed on the cart, taken downstairs, and put inside the BMW he had bought. The four culprits drove to a house in Hua Hin in Prachuap Khiri Khan province, where they contacted Wang’s friend Yu.
Next, the group coerced Wang into transferring money into a bank account owned by Kob twice, first 2 million baht and then 900,000 baht.
Afterward, they forced the victim to transfer 1.03 million baht to a woman named Ta, amounting to 3.93 million baht. The group freed Wang at a restaurant on Saturday.
The police report that they have recovered 2.3 million baht of the total amount so far and have arrested six suspects, including 24-year-old beauty queen Nampetch, 24-year-old Guy, Kob, June, Frog, and Joe.
Six suspects were taken into custody under suspicion of jointly kidnapping a person over 15 years old for ransom by threatening to use violence or other coercive methods to detain and imprison.
Additional charges included joint extortion, jointly restraining or imprisoning others to deprive them of physical freedom, and permitting others to commit acts causing physical or mental harm to the victim.
During questioning at Thong Lor Police Station yesterday, Nampetch informed the police that she selected Wang as the target because she knew he was a grey capitalist and engaged in illegal activities in Thailand, assuming he wouldn’t contact the police.
Wang provides her with 100,000 baht for monthly expenses, she mentioned.
Authorities conducted a background investigation and discovered that an arrest warrant was issued for Wang by Chinese officials after he faced allegations of fraud amounting to 12 million yuan, or 60 million baht.
Nonetheless, there was no Interpol red notice issued, allowing Wang to enter Thailand without any issues. Wang is currently in the custody of Thai immigration.
