Police have launched a manhunt for a Korean national after he allegedly handcuffed and detained another Korean in the former’s rented house in Dumaguete City and collected ransom money from the latter’s parents.
The suspect, Lee Yoon Pyo, has been placed on the police and immigration watchlist after the family of the Korean student filed charges against him and his alleged accomplice of Kidnapping with Robbery.
A photograph of Lee Yoon Pyo, has also been forwarded to the police in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental and Iloilo, where the suspect was allegedly headed after the purported illegal detention and extortion incident, said Negros Oriental provincial police director Sr. Supt. Rey Lyndon Lawas on Wednesday.
Lee Yoon Pyo had fled with some 7.5 million Korean Won, or roughly 3,500 US dollars, which the victim’s parents had deposited in their son’s ATM bank account in Dumaguete and which the suspects had withdrawn later.
Arrangements have also been made with the Bureau of Immigration for a possible hold departure order against Lee Yoon Pyo to prevent the suspect from leaving the country, once the case against him has been filed in court and an arrest warrant will be issued against him, Lawas added.
Lawas, who personally supervised the investigation late Monday after the incident was reported, said that 27-year old Hong Kyu Ui, a student of Foundation University in Dumaguete, was examined by doctors for bruises on his arms after he was handcuffed while detained for several hours inside the bedroom of the suspect at the latter’s rented house in barangay Junob, this City.
A Korean pastor, Rev. Daniel Youngku Jee, and another companion had first reported to the Dumaguete police that the student was kidnapped, after his parents called them to verify if, indeed, their son had figured in a vehicular accident.
The victim claimed that Lee, whom he barely knew, had invited him to a McDonald’s outlet in Dumaguete and later brought him to the man’s house, where he was suddenly handcuffed without any reason. The transaction was made inside the room of the suspect, who then contacted the student’s parents, telling them that their son had figured in a road accident and to immediately deposit the 7.5 million Won in their son’s bank account.
Further police investigation showed that aside from the Korean suspect, a certain Rommel Roa, the brother of Lee Yoon Pyo’s wife, Marilyn, will be included in the filing of criminal charges for his alleged involvement in the detention and extortion incident, said Lawas.
Rommel Roa had allegedly accompanied Lee to withdraw the money from the victim’s ATM account before the student was released the following day, Monday, Lawas added.
The suspect’s wife, Marilyn, however, may not be included in the complaint as police investigators have determined that she did not have any knowledge or direct participation in the crime. She told police investigators that she and other household members had gone on a family outing on Sunday and had no idea what transpired in their home even until she returned later.
The woman claimed that her husband, Lee Yoon Pyo, told her not to enter their bedroom, which Marilyn did not find unusual as it was a common practice for the couple, according to Lawas.
The wife further related that her last communication with her husband was when he called her to pick up their Starex Van which he left at the Quezon Park as he was going to Iloilo via Bacolod City, although she did not bother to ask why as he also usually leaves on a spur-of-the-moment trips.
Sr. Supt. Lawas has also asked the Korean communities in Dumaguete and other parts of Negros Oriental to help the police locate Lee Yoon Pyo. (PNA) JFP