Huge police hunt after kidnappers flee with HK$28m in ransom cash

[EndoftheWorld]

Police say all kidnap suspects caught, but bulk of ransom for Hong Kong heiress still missing

PUBLISHED : Thursday, 14 May, 2015, 10:09am
UPDATED : Friday, 15 May, 2015, 10:48am

Staff Reporters

Guangdong police show the press the goods recovered from the suspects. Photo: Guangdong Provincial Public Security

With the announcement of two more arrests in the kidnapping of Bossini heiress Queenie Rosita Law, police in Hong Kong and the mainland said all participants in the crime had been caught – but they were still stumped as to where 90 per cent of the HK$28 million ransom was hidden.

Authorities, meanwhile, have yet to decide whether the eight people arrested on the mainland will stand trial in Hong Kong or the mainland. The one arrested in Hong Kong will be tried in the city.

Police in Guangdong province announced the additional arrests this morning, saying eight suspects were apprehended in Shenzhen, Dongguan and Huizhou in Guangdong, as well as in Guizhou province. Police added that they had also recovered HK$2.8 million, as well as watches and jewellery.

But the location of the rest of the ransom remains a mystery.

Guangdong officers handcuff one of the suspects, in a photo circulating on social media.

“We are trying to find out their escape route. It is possible they may have hidden the money in a hillside in Hong Kong or mainland China while avoiding being captured,” a Hong Kong police source said.

He did not rule out the possibility that the money was being held by an as-yet unknown associate of the gang who is still at large.

But, the source said, “We believe all the members of the gang involved in the robbery and kidnap have been netted.”

Police previously reported six suspects had been arrested in Guangdong province, as well as one in Hong Kong. The new figure includes them.

“Our investigation showed six of the eight suspects captured on the mainland came to Hong Kong to commit crime,” the Hong Kong police source said. “One of them is the alleged mastermind.”

When asked whether those arrested on the mainland would stand trial in Hong Kong, senior superintendent Anthony Tsang Ching-fo, head of the Kowloon East regional crime unit, said police would liaise with mainland authorities to work out the best solution.

He said they would seek legal advice from Department of Justice if necessary.

Tsang said the arrests in Hong Kong and the mainland demonstrated the importance of the close cooperation between Hong Kong and mainland enforcement agencies.

“No matter where criminals will hide, Hong Kong and mainland police will spare no effort to track them down and bring them into justice,” he said.

Valuables recovered from the gang, in a photo released by Guangdong police. Photo: Guangdong Provincial Public Security

The heist took place on April 25, when a gang of six Putonghua-speaking people broke into Law’s home on Clear Water Bay Road in Sai Kung and abducted her. They stole HK$2 million in cash and valuables from the home, Hong Kong police said.

Law was held for three days at a secluded cave in Fei Ngo Shan before her kidnappers called her father and demanded more than HK$40 million. That amount was reduced to HK$28 million, and Law was released on April 28 after her father paid it.

Guangdong police said at least one suspect operating in Shenzhen and Dongguan allegedly organised the smuggling of other suspects into or out of Hong Kong, as well as overseeing the sale of the stolen property.

Two suspects returned to the mainland with some of the stolen property soon after the kidnapping and fled to Huizhou and Guizhou separately, Guangdong police said.

Three other suspects also returned to the mainland on May 3, but one of them was arrested by Hong Kong police at the Lo Wu border checkpoint while the other two made it into Shenzhen. Those two were later detained by Guangdong police at a hostel in Luohu district.

Two remaining suspects returning to the mainland on May 6, but were also detained by police in Huidong county in Guangdong on Saturday. Police said they recovered HK$2.8 million from the pair, which is believed to be part of the ransom.

Guangdong police said seven of the suspects started plotting the caper in early April in Shenzhen. One of them entered Hong Kong using a travel permit while the other six were smuggled into the territory, they said.

Some of the cash recovered from the gang, in a photo released by Guangdong police. Photo: Guangdong Provincial Public Security

Both mainland and Hong Kong police have characterised the crime as a premeditated heist, though Hong Kong police initially suspected it could have been a spontaneous burglary attempt.

Following the arrest of a man named Zheng Xingwang at the Shenzhen border, Hong Kong police mounted a huge search operation in Sha Tau Kok, near the border between Hong Kong and Shenzhen.

Law is the granddaughter of late Bossini founder Law Ting-pong and her family has been running the clothing business for decades. Her father, Raymond Law Ka-kui, is a property investor who is involved in some of the city’s major development projects.

 

[EndoftheWorld]

Mastermind behind kidnapping of Bossini heiress hid in Hong Kong for 11 days

After arrest of all nine suspects, details emerge of how mastermind evaded capture before being caught with only 10pc of HK$28m ransom

PUBLISHED : Thursday, 14 May, 2015, 11:38pm
UPDATED : Friday, 15 May, 2015, 4:32pm

Clifford Lo and Mimi Lau in Guangdong

A Guangdong police photo of four of the arrested suspects. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Hong Kong and mainland police have revealed that the mastermind behind the brazen kidnapping of Bossini heiress Queenie Rosita Law eluded arrest in Hong Kong for 11 days before fleeing to the mainland in the dead of night on May 6.

When the leader, identified only as You, was caught in Huidong county, Guangdong, three days later with another member of the gang, they had on them HK$2.8 million, just 10 per cent of the HK$28 million ransom they escaped with.

Where they stashed the remainder of the ransom remained a mystery, Guangdong police said yesterday as they revealed more details of the kidnapping of Law from her Clearwater Bay home on April 25.

Guangdong police reveal details of the operation. Photo: SCMP Pictures

The arrests of all nine suspects mark a milestone in the massive cross-border manhunt that entailed searches taking police from the hillsides of a country park in Hong Kong to several southern counties on the mainland.

A total of eight gang members were nabbed in Shenzhen, Dongguan and Huizhou in Guangdong, as well as in Guizhou province. A ninth was arrested first, on May 3 in Hong Kong, and has been charged.

Guangdong police said seven of the gang arrived in Hong Kong early last month and spent two weeks scouting and surveying luxury homes in the Fei Ngo Shan area before "finally selecting" Law's residence as a target.

Apart from the HK$2.8 million in cash, police also recovered part of the loot of watches and jewellery worth HK$2 million the gang allegedly stole from the house.

The gang members staggered their exit from the city over a number of days, with two leaving almost immediately after the ransom was handed over by Law's family on April 28. You was apparently last to leave on May 6.

It is understood that several of the nine had previous criminal records.

Part of the recovered ransom. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Hong Kong detectives are now working on two theories on where the remainder of the ransom money could be hidden.

"We are trying to find out their escape route because it is possible they may have hidden the money on a hillside in Hong Kong or mainland China while on the run," one Hong Kong police source said.

The source added that police from both sides were trying to piece together information about the treks the gang made while in Hong Kong and on the mainland, and people they could have met before they were captured.

Police previously reported six suspects had been arrested in Guangdong, as well as one in Hong Kong. Yesterday's announcement brings the total number captured to nine.

But it is not clear if all six of the core gang members who carried out the kidnapping are among them. Guangdong police would not confirm this, but a Hong Kong police source suggested the kidnap leaders were in custody.

"We believe all the members of the gang involved in the robbery and kidnap have been netted," said the source.

But he did not rule out the possibility that the money was being held by an as-yet unknown person still at large. "We will continue the hunt for the ransom in Hong Kong for at least one or two more weeks," he said.

A team of officers is being tasked to check footage of security cameras collected on the streets in Sai Kung, Tai Po and Sha Tau Kok, as well as immigration checkpoints.

Some of the items that were taken from the kidnapping victim's home. Photo: SCMP Pictures

"So far, they have pored over 1,000 hours of CCTV footage but have not finished yet," the source said.

"In the first week after Law was kidnapped, more than 100 crime squad officers worked around the clock and they slept only two or three hours a day."

After the arrests, the next question is where the gang members will be charged.

Asked whether those arrested on the mainland would stand trial in Hong Kong, Senior Superintendent Anthony Tsang Ching-fo, head of the Kowloon East regional crime unit, said police would liaise with mainland authorities on the best solution. He said they would seek legal advice from the Department of Justice if necessary.

The alleged gang member arrested in Hong Kong, Zheng Xingwang, 29, has been charged with one count of conspiring to take or detain a person by force, commonly known as kidnapping. He will next appear in Kwun Tong Court on July 7.

Zheng was arrested when he tried to leave Hong Kong for Shenzhen at the Lo Wu immigration checkpoint.

Tsang hailed the arrests on both sides of the border as the result of close cooperation between Hong Kong and mainland law-enforcement agencies.

"No matter where criminals hide, Hong Kong and mainland police will spare no effort to track them down and bring them to justice," he said.

Another Hong Kong police source said it was unknown whether the mastermind was actually involved in the on-the-ground execution of the crime because they wore surgical masks and the kidnapping victim was blindfolded during her three-day ordeal.

"We don't rule out one of the seven suspects who came to Hong Kong acted as a lookout [at the time of the kidnap]," this source said.

Law was held for three days at a secluded cave in Fei Ngo Shan before her kidnappers called her father and demanded more than HK$40 million. That amount was reduced to HK$28 million and Law was released on April 28 within an hour of her father paying the ransom.

The cave has not been located, according to police.

SUSPECTS NETTED ONE AFTER ANOTHER

April 25: A gang of six Putonghua-speaking men enter the Clearwater Bay home of Queenie Rosita Law, steal HK$2 million in cash and valuables and kidnap the Bossini heiress.

April 30: Hong Kong police inform Guangdong public security authorities of the abduction and request their assistance. A task force is set up with Shenzhen police leading the investigation.

May 2: Mainland task force meets Hong Kong police to discuss investigation strategy.

May 3: Hong Kong police intercept suspect trying to cross into mainland. Police across the border arrest four more suspects in Shenzhen, Dongguan , Huizhou and Guizhou .

May 4: Police arrest two more suspects in Shenzhen hotel.

May 9: Two more suspects are arrested in Huizhou.

 

[EndoftheWorld]

Chance of rendition to Hong Kong for kidnap suspects slim, expert says

PUBLISHED : Friday, 15 May, 2015, 12:05pm
UPDATED : Friday, 15 May, 2015, 4:24pm

Stuart Lau [email protected]

One of the kidnap suspects arrested in Guangdong province. Photo: SCMP Pictures

After mainland and Hong Kong authorities announced yesterday that all nine of the suspected participants in last month’s kidnap of Bossini heiress Queenie Rosita Law had been arrested, they now need to decide where to try them – and at least one legal expert says the chance of a rendition to Hong Kong is slim.

Differences in evidence standards on different sides of the border, combined with the complication of possibly transferring only some of the suspects back to Hong Kong, may lead authorities to push for the case to be tried on the mainland, said University of Hong Kong law professor Simon Young Ngai-man.

It is still administratively possible for mainland authorities to send to Hong Kong some of the eight arrested in Guangdong province who allegedly crossed the border into Hong Kong to stage the kidnap. But the fact that the accused mastermind allegedly remained in Guangdong province all along might convince law enforcement bodies on both sides of the border that his trial should take place on the mainland.

The ninth suspect, who was arrested in Hong Kong, will be tried in the city.

“My understanding from the news is that the plan to kidnap formed in Hong Kong, not the mainland,” Young said. “However there might be enough evidence to prosecute them [on the mainland] for conspiracy to commit burglary.”

But, Young said, “I think if the mainland and Hong Kong authorities feel that there is enough evidence to prosecute them for a serious offence on the mainland, they will forego the messy issues of rendition.”

When the alleged ringleader, identified only as You, was caught in Huidong county, Guangdong, with another alleged member of the gang, they had on them HK$2.8 million, just 10 per cent of the HK$28 million ransom with which the kidnappers escaped.

Where the kidnappers stashed the remainder of the ransom money remained a mystery, Guangdong police said yesterday as they revealed more details of the kidnapping of Law from her Clearwater Bay home on April 25.

Another issue is the different standards of interrogation and confession-taking between mainland and Hong Kong. While Hong Kong courts exercise stringent scrutiny over possible forced confessions, mainland police interrogation methods could be called into question if the gang members were sent to Hong Kong for trial.

Young said in case the victim’s evidence turned out to be weak, the mainland authorities “may just go with the mainland prosecution on the strength of their [possible] confession evidence”. There have been no reports that those arrested have confessed.

Asked yesterday whether those arrested on the mainland would stand trial in Hong Kong, Senior Superintendent Anthony Tsang Ching-fo, head of the Kowloon East regional crime unit, said police would liaise with mainland authorities on the best solution. He said they would seek legal advice from the Department of Justice if necessary.

Democratic Party lawmaker James To Kun-sun has said there was an arrangement under which the mainland would “expel” suspects from Hong Kong back to the city at the request of Hong Kong police. For example, the two main suspects last year’s attack on former Ming Pao chief editor Kevin Lau Chun-to were sent back to the city.

But To noted the two in the Lau case were Hongkongers, whereas the kidnapping suspects are not.

 

[EndoftheWorld]

Police hunted wrong kidnap car after being given wrong vehicle details

PUBLISHED : Friday, 15 May, 2015, 2:20pm
UPDATED : Friday, 15 May, 2015, 11:40pm

Clifford Lo [email protected]

Officers were looking especially for the cave at Fei Ngo Shan in which Law was held for three days, and the bulk of the HK$28 million ransom her father paid for her release. Photo: Felix Wong

Gangsters who escaped with a HK$28 million ransom in the Bossini heiress kidnap case were able to evade a huge dragnet because Hong Kong police were looking for the wrong getaway car, it has emerged.

In the crucial minutes following Queenie Rosita Law's release in Fei Ngo Shan at 8pm on April 28, after her father handed over the ransom, police were given the registration number and a description of the seven-seater in which the gang fled the scene.

However, according to police sources, both the number and the description were inaccurate, allowing the gangsters to slip the net with the money.

The manhunt - which involved hundreds of officers, checkpoints at 40 locations across Kowloon East district and a Government Flying Service helicopter - was wrongly focused on a white Honda seven-seater with the licence plate HL 6473.

A police source told the South China Morning Post: "A car of similar type and colour was spotted in the vicinity of the ransom handover that night, but our subsequent investigations have shown that it was not the getaway vehicle the gang used."

The Post has also learned that the gang of six masked men managed to bypass the security system at the Law family's home in Clear Water Bay in the early hours of April 25 when they snatched the heiress and stole more than HK$2 million in valuables.

"The home had security measures in place and an alarm system installed, but the gang somehow found a loophole and were able to enter the house without activating the alarm," another source said.

The latest developments come as police yesterday resumed their search for the hillside cave in Fei Ngo Shan where the kidnap victim was held for three days by her abductors.

More than 50 officers in camouflage combed slopes along trekking routes from Fei Ngo Shan in Sai Kung to Tate's Cairn in Ma On Shan, searching for evidence in connection to the robbery and kidnap case.

During the search, officers were also trying to map out the kidnappers' exact escape route as the hunt goes on for the ransom money.

Mainland police recovered HK$2.8 million when they arrested the alleged ringleader in Guangdong.

The nine-hour search involving crime-squad officers and members of the Quick Reaction Force - also known as the rural patrol unit - ended without success at about 5.30pm yesterday.

Hong Kong and Guangdong police have arrested a total of nine mainland men in the wake of the kidnap.

Eight are being held on the mainland and a ninth man, Zheng Xingwang, 29, who was arrested in Hong Kong, is detained in the city after being charged in connection with the kidnap.

 

[EndoftheWorld]

Mainland police recover HK$3.65m of the ransom money in Bossini heiress kidnapping

Bundles of banknotes found in black rucksack on hillside in Shenzhen, but more than HK$20 million remains missing

PUBLISHED : Thursday, 28 May, 2015, 6:57pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 28 May, 2015, 6:57pm

Clifford Lo [email protected]

Kidnap victim Queenie Rosita Law, granddaughter of textile businessman Law Ting-pong. Photo: David Wong

Mainland police have recovered another HK$3.65 million of the ransom money paid in the kidnapping of Bossini heiress Queenie Rosita Law, according to a mainland website, but more than HK$20 million remains missing.

Four bundles of HK$1,000 banknotes were found in a black rucksack hidden in a bush on a remote hillside in Shenzhen, the report said.

Inside the rucksack, police also found 10 pieces of jewellery believed to have been stolen from Law’s Clear Water Bay residence last month.

They included necklaces, bracelets and rings, according to the report.

A statement published on the Weibo webpage said detectives from Shenzhen discovered the location of the money from one of the alleged abductors – Xiong Denghui – on May 15.

Xiong was among nine mainland men arrested by Hong Kong and Guangdong police earlier this month in connection with the kidnapping. Officers recovered about one-tenth of the HK$28 million ransom payment during the operation.

According to the statement, Xiong and another suspect surnamed Wang, carrying the rucksack with the cash and valuables, crossed the border into Shenzhen at Sha Tau Kok through an illegal channel on May 4.

“After returning to Shenzhen, Wang hid the rucksack in a secluded wood in the Luohu district of Shenzhen,” it said.

Mainland officers escorted Xiong to the wood to confirm the site before they found the black rucksack at about 2am on May 16.

The statement said Shenzhen police would work closely with Hong Kong police to find the remainder of the ransom money.

Hong Kong detectives are now working on two theories as to the whereabouts of the remaining money. They suspect it was hidden on a hillside in Hong Kong or on the mainland while the suspects were on the run, or it may have been kept by an unidentified culprit.

On April 25, six Putonghua-speaking men broke into Law’s house in Clear Water Bay, abducted her and stole more than HK$2 million in valuables.

The kidnappers are suspected of holding Law – the granddaughter of Bossini founder Law Ting-pong – in a secluded cave before calling her father and demanding more than HK$40 million for her release. That was later reduced to HK$28 million. Law was freed after the money was paid on April 28. It was the city’s biggest kidnap case in recent years.

 

[EndoftheWorld]

Bossini heiress kidnap suspect You Dunkui was 'friendly and unsophisticated' and knew little about Hong Kong

You Dunkui, facing trial for allegedly leading the biggest abduction in recent Hong Kong history, had nothing unusual about him

PUBLISHED : Sunday, 21 June, 2015, 9:27am
UPDATED : Sunday, 21 June, 2015, 1:55pm

Samuel Chan in Guizhou [email protected]

Front door of suspected kidnap mastermind You Dunkui's home in Weng'an county, Guizhou province, where his wife and two underage daughters still live. Photo: May Tse

The man facing trial on the mainland for allegedly masterminding the biggest kidnap in recent Hong Kong history had little knowledge of the SAR and was "the sort of guy who walked away from a mahjong game when the bet got bigger than 10 yuan", according to people who knew him.

As police in Hong Kong and the mainland continue to search for the missing HK$28 million ransom money that secured the release of Bossini heiress Queenie Rosita Law earlier this year, You Dunkui sits in a mainland prison cell contemplating a possible death sentence for his alleged crime.

People who know the "friendly and unsophisticated" 38-year-old from Guizhou province were shocked that he was able to put together such a complex criminal enterprise in a city he only knew about from movies.

"I was playing mahjong with him a few months ago when he was back for Lunar New Year," a neighbour who only wanted to be identified by her surname, Shan, told the Sunday Morning Post at You's home in a mid-range residential complex in Wengan county.

Shan lives one floor below You, who is awaiting trial in Shenzhen along with eight other men - all from Guizhou - for plotting and carrying out the kidnapping of Law.

"He was always a friendly neighbour, there was nothing unusual about him. When we played mahjong and the bet was raised to 10 yuan [HK$12.70] - just 10 yuan - he left the table saying 'this is too high for me'.

"That's why we were so shocked when we heard in the news that he was suddenly the boss of a kidnapping gang in Hong Kong."

You lived with his wife and two adolescent daughters in the top-floor apartment of the seven-storey building for about three years and was often out of town, returning two or three times a year, Shan said. The neighbour said his family did not appear to have money problems, recalling that You's wife once mentioned the mortgage on their 1,000 sq ft flat had been paid in full.

"Now his wife has stopped greeting the neighbours and wears big sunglasses every day when she goes out."

Members of You's family in the house refused to answer questions when approached by the Post. His brother would only say: "It has not been easy for our family lately, we appreciate your concern but we will handle things by ourselves."

About two hours' drive north is Zhuzang village, You's ancestral home, where his parents and younger brother's family still live.

His father, You Jiajun, told the Post: "Hong Kong's social system has corrupted him I suppose."

The 64-year-old, who previously served in the army in Hebei province during the 1970s, said: "He was a good kid and never had trouble with the cops."

Before leaving home to work in Guangdong and Fujian provinces, You junior took his father's advice and worked as a projectionist in the local cinema for two or three months showing Hong Kong movies and the so-called communist "red classics".

You returned home at least once a year, his father said, adding that he hadn't noticed anything unusual about his behaviour in his most recent visit. "He still drove the same black Toyota he bought in 2008."

Across the street running a grocery store is Zhang Peilin, a neighbour who has known You all his life.

"He came by to visit me during the [Lunar] New Year," Zhang said. "He seemed to me still the same polite and good kid I knew."

Despite their disbelief at You being a "mastermind", You senior and his neighbour Zhang said they had faith in the mainland police's investigations into the case.

"I've already done everything I could to help him," his father said, referring to an appeal letter he wrote for his son earlier this year. "If he is found to have done wrong, he should bear the consequences."

You's father said he had no plans to go to Shenzhen to hear his son's trial, expected to start soon, nor did he plan to hire a lawyer for his son.

Meanwhile, Guizhou locals are worried that the high-profile kidnapping case reported countrywide on state television would further reinforce the place's less than glowing reputation as a criminal hotbed.

 

[Pulse]

HK$15m more of Bossini heiress ransom found by police Ransom cash found on Sai Kung hill

More than HK$6m still missing from kidnapping despite latest find on secluded Sai Kung hill

PUBLISHED : Friday, 07 August, 2015, 11:05am
UPDATED : Saturday, 08 August, 2015, 3:43am

Clifford Lo [email protected]

Police retrieve evidence from a site in Clear Water Bay Road as part of investigations into the kidnapping. Photo: Sam Tsang

Hong Kong police have recovered another HK$15 million of the HK$28 million in ransom money paid to free Queenie Rosita Law, the kidnapped heiress of a local clothing chain - but more than HK$6 million remains missing, police said yesterday.

Bundles of HK$1,000 banknotes stuffed in several bags were found buried on a secluded hillside in Sai Kung on Thursday, according to police sources with knowledge of the case.

The money was found within about a 30-minute walk from a cave where Law, whose grandfather Law Ting-pong founded Bossini, was believed to have been held captive in late April while the kidnappers awaited the payout.

"Because we did not have the exact location or markings to show where the money was buried, our officers had to dig many holes in the hillside before the money was found," one police source said.

"There was no road or walking path. Because of dense bushes, it is difficult to locate and reach the site. Our officers had to walk about four to five hours from [Clear Water Bay Road] to the site."

Police did not find the cave or the money until Thursday, because they had been focusing on the Fei Ngo Shan area, where Law was released after the ransom money was paid. Officers seized evidence from the cave, including daily necessities.

"We can confirm the money was used as ransom for the release of the victim because we recorded the serial numbers of the banknotes," another source said. "It is possible the HK$6.46 million that remains missing is being concealed somewhere on a hillside in Hong Kong."

Kidnap victim Queenie Law. Photo: David Wong

Along with the latest discovery, police yesterday appealed to the public to contact officers if they found any further evidence or ransom money related to the case.

"Anybody who keeps such exhibits commits offences of theft and handling of stolen properties," said Superintendent Chau Hin-hung, of the Kowloon East regional crime unit, adding that each offence carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in jail.

Police declined to reveal the exact location of the cave but the steep hillside on which it sits is understood to be below Pak Shek Toi Road. The road is about 1km from where Law lives.

Local officers closed in on their find after their mainland counterparts obtained fresh information on the case and narrowed down the possible location of the money.

Chau confirmed that information from mainland authorities enabled the fruitful search.

"Bushes on the hillside are too thick and we did not have the exact location," the superintendent said.

"We had to search inch by inch and check every corner and go through dense foliage."

Law was abducted after a gang broke into her home in Sai Kung on April 25.

The heiress was released on April 28 after her family paid HK$28 million.

So far, Hong Kong and mainland authorities have recovered a total of HK$21.54 million of the ransom money.

Ten people had been arrested to date, Hong Kong police said yesterday in updating the investigation progress.

Chau said nine of them were caught in Guangdong and Guizhou provinces. Ransom money of HK$6.54 million had also been recovered on the mainland along with jewellery believed to have been stolen from Law's home.

Only one suspect was arrested in Hong Kong. Zheng Xingwang, 29, was trying to leave for Shenzhen on May 3 when he was nabbed.

Zheng has appeared in Kwun Tong Court three times over an alleged conspiracy to forcibly take or detain Law between April 25 and 28. The court has adjourned the case to September 15.

 

[Pulse]

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[Pulse]

Hong Kong man among nine standing trial in Shenzhen over kidnapping of Bossini heiress Queenie Rosita Law

Trial begins at Shenzhen Intermediate Court on Thursday, but lawyers have questioned the *arrangement for mainland courts to handle the case

PUBLISHED : Thursday, 24 March, 2016, 12:11am
UPDATED : Thursday, 24 March, 2016, 9:52am
Clifford Lo Stuart Lau

A Hong Kong man is among nine people standing trial in Shenzhen on Thursday over the high-profile *kidnapping of an heiress to *apparel chain Bossini last year.

The trial will be held at the Shenzhen Intermediate Court and is expected to last two days.

Lawyers on both sides of the border have questioned the *arrangement for mainland courts to handle the case, noting that the principal acts took place in Hong Kong – at the Sai Kung home of Queenie Rosita Law, the granddaughter of Bossini founder Law Ting-pong.

She was held captive for three days before being freed in April last year after a ransom of HK$28 million was paid.

But mainland authorities *insisted they had jurisdiction over the case, arguing the gang had plotted the crime in Shenzhen.

Hong Kong and the mainland have no fugitive transfer agreements in place.

Six of the mainlanders face kidnapping charges, while a seventh man and the Hongkonger, a middle-aged, long-time mainland resident, were charged with handling stolen property, sources with knowledge of the case told the Post.

The ninth man is accused of arranging illegal passage.

All the suspects were caught in Guangdong and Guizhou provinces shortly after Hong Kong police arrested an alleged kidnapper, Zheng Xingwang, at the city’s *immigration control point on May 3 last year. He is the only suspect in the case whose trial will be held in Hong Kong.

Law Society vice-president Thomas So agreed that mainland authorities had jurisdiction over the case, which is of a “cross-border” nature.

“While the kidnapping took place in Hong Kong, some of the plotting was done on the mainland,” he said. “If either of the jurisdictions makes the *arrests, the trial can take place there.”

However, University of Hong Kong principal law lecturer Eric Cheung Tat-ming said the case highlighted the lack of mechanisms under which Hong Kong could prove itself a more suitable venue than the mainland to hear certain cases.

That, he said, was a debate that could be traced back to the trial of “Big Spender” Cheung Tsz-keung by Guangdong courts in the 1990s. Cheung was sentenced to death and executed.

A mainland lawyer involved in the kidnapping case, who refused to be named, agreed that Hong Kong’s judicial independence would be eroded in this case.

The Department of Justice refused to comment on the case.

To help mainland authorities process the prosecution, Hong Kong police were understood to have provided their public security counterparts across the border with related documents and photographs of HK$4 million worth of jewellery stolen from the Bossini heiress’ Sai Kung home during the abduction. It is understood most of the stolen jewellery was recovered on the mainland.

A painstaking cross-border hunt for the cash ended earlier this month when Hong Kong *police found HK$6.35 million of the ransom buried in Ma On Shan Country Park. The site was close to where police recovered HK$15 million in August last year. The sites were also near a cave where Law was held captive. Another HK$6 million in ransom money was recovered on the mainland.

 

[TellMeBaby]

http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1976094/bossini-heiress-kidnapper-jailed-12-years-heinous-crime

 

[TellMeBaby]

Eight sentenced to up to 15 years for HK abduction

China Daily, July 30, 2016

Eight men who kidnapped a Hong Kong fashion heiress and held her in a cave as they negotiated a multimillion dollar ransom were sentenced to up to 15 years in prison on Friday, a Chinese mainland court said.

Queenie Rosita Law, granddaughter of the late textiles tycoon Law Tingpong, who founded the Bossini clothing chain, was abducted from her house in Hong Kong in April last year.

The 29-year-old was held in a mountain cave for four days before family members paid a ransom of HK$28 million ($3.61 million) for her release. Most of the gang fled to the mainland afterward, where they were captured.

Six of the defendants were found guilty of abduction and two others of disguising or concealing illegally obtained gains, a Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court spokesman said.

The ringleader, You Dunkui, was sentenced to 15 years for kidnapping, with the others being given terms ranging from 13 years to just under two, he said.

Another gang member, Zheng Xingwang, was sentenced to 12 years by a Hong Kong court last month after having confessed to a charge of forcibly taking or detaining a person for ransom.

Law and her boyfriend were asleep at her house in the quiet coastal Clearwater Bay area when six mainland Chinese men raided the house, tied them up and taped over their mouths, according to testimony at Zheng's trial.

They stole jewelry and cash worth about HK$3 million from two safes, after forcing Law to give them the combinations.

Law was tied to one of the gang members, who carried her on foot to a hillside cave 90 minutes' walk away. Her boyfriend was told to notify her father of the ransom demand.

Hong Kong police launched a massive search for the kidnappers, deploying hundreds of heavily armed officers, helicopters and marine vessels, and setting up roadblocks.

Almost all of the money has been recovered, including some buried on hillsides near the cave.

Although Hong Kong has low crime rates, it has seen some high-profile kidnappings, including the abduction in 1996 of one of city tycoon Li Ka-shing's sons, who was released after his father reportedly paid a HK$1 billion ransom.