A 57-year-old Taiwanese businessman who accumulated a fortune by operating illegal Internet gambling operations was found dead in a ditch in a remote area of the southern city of Tainan last weekend.
According to a statement from police in the central city of Taichung, Shih Chia-chin was picked up by his chauffeur Hsieh Yuan-hsin at a local airport on August 18, three hours later his accountant received a phone call from kidnappers who wanted a ransom of TW$50 million (about $1.6 million).
After negotiating with the kidnappers, Chia-chin's family transferred $TW30 million (about $1 million) to three bank accounts instructed by the kidnappers and allerted the police. Hsieh, the chauffeur, went to withdraw the ransom but got cold feet and fled when he was asked to show his ID. Prosecutors issued a warrant to prevent Hsieh from leaving the country. However, about four hours later he still managed to board a flight to Thailand with a relative's passport. Police believe that Hsieh was accompanied by at least two other persons during the kidnapping.
This was not the first time Shih Chia-chin had been involved in a kidnapping attempt. According to Taiwan News, he survived one prior kidnapping attempt four years ago and has been keeping a low profile ever since. In 2005, he received an 18 month sentence for his part in an illegal online gambling operation, which accepted illegal bets from Taiwanese gamblers.
