Kidnapper of Hong Kong textile heiress jailed

A man from China has been jailed for 12 years for conspiring to kidnap the heiress of a Hong Kong clothing empire last year in order to procure a ransom, the media reported on Thursday.

Zheng Xingwang, 30, pleaded guilty to the charge on Tuesday, with Justice Kevin Zervos describing the crime as "shocking" and "deserving of a severe punishment", public broadcasting service RTHK reported.

The court heard that six men, wearing masks and gloves, broke into Bossini heiress Queenie Law's family home in Sai Kung on April 25, 2015 and tied her and her boyfriend up. They then forced Law to give them the combination numbers of the safes from which they took jewellery.

She was then blindfolded and taken away and her boyfriend was told to relay what had happened to her parents.

Law was taken to an isolated cave, where she was asked about her father's background and told to jot down his phone number.

They then called him, demanding 58 million Hong Kong dollars (about $7 million) as ransom and warned that Law would be killed if they were not paid.

The ransom was later lowered to 28 million Hong Kong dollars and was delivered on April 28. Law was then released.

--IANS

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