http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Cop ... 52528.htmlCops: She is dead
Kidnapping of Chinese businesswoman...
By Akile Simon
Story Created: May 7, 2011 at 11:48 PM ECT
Story Updated: May 7, 2011 at 11:48 PM ECT
The kidnapping of Chinese businesswoman, Xue Ahua Shan, is being treated as a possible homicide by police as information from underground sources indicated the woman may have been killed on the same night of her abduction.
Though no physical evidence has been found by police to suggest that Shan is alive or dead, police sources said they have received information that she was murdered by her abductors.
Murdered businessman Anthony Chen, 61, who was shot outside his China Palace Restaurant at Ellerslie Plaza, Maraval three Sundays ago, was identified by police as the mastermind behind Shan's kidnapping.
The Sunday Express was reliably informed that Chen, a good friend of Shan's husband, attempted to extort money from the man, by pretending that he was genuinely concerned about the incident and that he was willing to put out his money in exchange for the release of the woman.
His intention was to pretend that he would have paid the $4 million from his money to the kidnappers and that Shan's husband, a wealthy Hong Kong businessman, would reimburse him. The money was to assist Chen in opening a restaurant at One Woodbrook Place, Woodbrook, police said.
After Shan's husband came into the country to assist in her recovery, information surfaced that the kidnappers wanted to pick him up as well, which led to his early departure to his homeland.
Police sources said the woman's husband had dismissed the threats and safety warnings they issued to him, but when he realised, on his own, that his security and safety could be compromised, the Hong Kong business man immediately left the country.
No money was paid to Chen and he did not make any payments to the kidnappers.
He kept stalling them following which the abductors, who are still being sought by police, got agitated since they believed Chen would have paid them from his pocket.
What Chen did, police said, was played a deadly game on both sides, particularly when he 'double-crossed' the men who had snatched Shan.
Police were planning on detaining Chen for questioning but before officers could have picked Chen up, he was gunned down by two men who waited outside his business place for him.
Two men driving a Nissan Almera car, which was captured by surveillance cameras fleeing the scene of the shooting, were held in St James with the vehicle late last month. They were questioned by police and released pending further investigations.
Officers have interviewed more than 20 persons in relation to Shan's kidnapping and Chen's murder, including members of the Chinese community .
Shan, 31, was kidnapped a few metres from her Seventh Street, Barataria, home on April 13.
She owned and operated the Happy Garden Restaurant in
St Helena.
