The Department of Justice (DOJ) of the Philippines held its first court hearing on the kidnapping and murder case involving Chinese businessman Guo Congyuan. The three defendants appeared in court for the first time, namely Richard Austria and Reymart Catequista from the Philippines, and David Tan Liao from China.
They are facing charges of kidnapping for ransom and murder. The three stated that they would submit a counter-affidavit at the next hearing to dismiss the charges. The next hearing is scheduled for May 8.
It has been confirmed that ten individuals are involved in the Guo Congyuan case, with six still at large. The fugitives include a Filipino, Roxian Guo, and five Chinese nationals: Haohua Yang, Fangqiang Yuan, Jin Yuan Ye, Jonin Lin Lin, and Kelly.
Kelly is suspected to be the wanted Chinese female fugitive Gong Wenli, who has used multiple aliases including "Huang Yanling" and "Kelly Tan Lin".
According to reports, Guo Congyuan was the owner of the "Elison Steel" company in the Philippines, known as the "Steel King". He and his driver were kidnapped on March 29, and despite the family paying a total ransom of 210 million pesos (approximately 4.92 million Singapore dollars) in three installments, both were still killed.
On April 9, their bodies were found in Rodriguez town, Rizal province, bound and stuffed into nylon bags, with their faces wrapped in tape.
The Philippine police have established a special investigation task force to probe a transnational criminal syndicate possibly composed of Filipinos and Chinese. This group is suspected of multiple kidnapping cases, and the police are pursuing the fugitives.
Furthermore, during the hearing, a lawyer for one of the defendants questioned the police's arrest and prosecution procedures, alleging irregularities in the process. Due to the sensitivity of the case, the lawyer declined to disclose more details.
The case is still under further investigation and trial, and it is closely monitored by all sectors of society.
