Chinese named abduction suspects
Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
The Jakarta Police arrested three Chinese citizens for robbing three Indonesian traders -- who own shops at Blok M Mall, South Jakarta -- and for kidnapping one of them.
The police arrested Lin Yongfei, 25, Lin Yongfeng, 23, and Feng Shigui, 23, on Aug. 14, after they received a complaint from Magdalena, the daughter of Hioe Siet Phin, 48, one of the three Indonesian traders.
The suspects, who came to Indonesia on tourist visas, were residents of Fujian, China. They told the police they had been unemployed in China.
The suspects contacted Magdalena by phone on Aug. 12 -- after allegedly kidnapping Hioe -- and demanded Rp 2 billion (US$217,391) in ransom if she wanted to see her mother alive.
"The three have been in Jakarta for a month and hold visas for a three-month stay here. They lived in a house in Taman Ratu housing complex in Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta," said city police detective chief Sr. Comr. Mathius Salempang on Friday.
Previously, the three suspects robbed two electronics shop owners Elina Poinah, 36, and her father Ngadimun, 63.
The two had left their shops in Blok M Mall on July 31 at around 9 p.m. when the three suspects approached them in the parking lot. The suspects got into the car, which headed to Ngadimun's house in Muara Karang, North Jakarta.
Since Lin Yongfei knew the victims from their previous business deals, neither of the shop owners was suspicious.
The suspects later threatened them, using two axes, to withdraw money from their savings account through an authorized teller machine (ATM). They withdrew a total of Rp 1.8 million and eventually fled.
A few days later, they managed to abduct Hioe, who was about to go home after closing her shop at Blok M Mall, using a rented Toyota Avanza minivan. The three brought her to their rented house and held her there for three days before the police apprehended them.
According to the police, Hioe is in good health, despite her ordeal.
The police had to use a Chinese interpreter during the investigation. They revealed that it was the first time the three had committed a crime in Indonesia.
City police spokesman Sr. Comr. Tjiptono said he could not recall any similar cases in which foreign tourists were suspected of robbery or kidnapping.
Separately, the city police arrested Ho Kwok Chi, a 62-year- old resident of Hong Kong, on Wednesday at around 2:45 p.m. for selling Chinese-made cosmetics at Harco Mangga Dua shopping center in West Jakarta.
The police said Ho did not hold a permit to conduct business here, nor a permit from the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM). He was caught red-handed, selling 10 boxes of cosmetics to some traders at the shopping center.