Korean Job Discussion Forums

[wylies99]

Kidnappers flee with fake ransom

http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2901031

February 14, 2009
Police are looking for two suspects who allegedly kidnapped a woman and released her after her husband paid a counterfeit ransom provided by police.

A 39-year-old bakery owner, identified only by the surname Park, was abducted by two men when she was closing her store in Naebalsan-dong, western Seoul, at around 11:40 p.m. on Feb. 10. The suspects also took 800,000 won ($569.72) from the store.

Her mouth and eyes were taped shut and she was locked in the suspects� truck.

Park�s husband, Yu, received a threatening phone call at 1:50 a.m. the next day. The kidnappers demanded 70 million won in cash, saying, �Your wife will be in danger if you talk to the cops.� Yu, however, immediately called the police.

Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency officers provided Yu with a golf bag holding 70 million won in bogus cash and a GPS electronic tracking device.

An officer in charge of the case noted that they �usually keep stacks of counterfeit money ready to catch such kidnappers quickly.�

Yu handed the golf bag to the suspects in a parking lot near Seoul�s Sungsan Bridge the next afternoon. A car chase began between investigators and the suspects, but the kidnappers got away.

The police found the empty golf bag, with the GPS still in it, abandoned in Sindorim-dong, central Seoul, two hours later.

Park was released in the streets of Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi, hours later.

�The serial numbers printed on the counterfeit money are the same, but it looks like the suspects didn�t know it was fake,� said an investigator who asked not to be named.


By Lee Jin-joo JoongAng Ilbo [[email protected]]

[GreenlightmeansGO]

Hmmm...good on them for getting away with screwing over the kidnappers. Bad on them for botching up the chase. Now the kidnappers know that they have counterfeit money and can start planning how to launder it.

[sobriquet]

[sarbonn]

Yeah, what's the deal with revealing the counterfeit information to the press so that the thieves now know about it? Are the police that stupid that this is how they think they should advertise their successes? By failing?

[Mr. Pink]

Yet another example of the brilliant Korean police skills.

[jkelly80]

Wait why are they trying to catch these guys? Confucian culture dictates that to attempt to prosecute or catch a criminal will result in a massive loss of face for the accused. Very rude.