Police in Vietnam’s southern hub Ho Chi Minh City has put a South Korean man into the wanted list for involvement in a case of abducting and torturing his fellow countryman over unpaid debt. Two other Koreans involved have been put under house arrest.   On November 29, the city police issued a wanted notice for Jang Hak-bong, 49 while searching for a Vietnamese man as his accomplice in the criminal case.

According to the case file, in November 2013, Bong Byung-gon and Shim Sung-bo, two South Korean nationals, handed US$150,000 to Kim Heung-sik, another South Korean man, as their payment for the purchase of the Ngoi Sao Giai Tri Restaurant, owned by Kim, at 2 Chu Manh Trinh Street in District 1.

Kim received the money and signed a contract to sell Ngoi Sao Giai Tri to Bong, but he later did not carry out procedures to re-register the restaurant under the name of Bong and Shim as the new owners of the facility. Kim did not return the amount to his two fellow-countrymen, either.

In March 2014, Bong and Shim had Jang Hak-bong, another South Korean man, and a Vietnamese man join a plot to abduct and torture Kim in a bid to force Kim to repay the amount to them.

At 9 am on March 26, this group of people rushed into Kim’s apartment in the Van Dom Tenement Building in District 4. They then beat Kim and then took him to the said restaurant, where they tortured him and forced him to sign a promissory note worth US$288,500. A day later, Shim and Nam Kuong-soon, a 38-year-old South Korean who manages the restaurant, took Kim to his home in a restaurant car driven by a driver of the restaurant. They then locked Kim in his house under the watch of a person. Kim later managed to send a text message to Mrs. N.T.H.P, a friend of his in Tan Binh District asking for her help. Mrs. P reported the case to police of Ward 1, District 4, who later, with the aid of HCMC police, rescued Kim.    On June 24, Bong and Shim handed themselves in to police while Jang and the Vietnamese man continued to hide from police. On July 11, city police indicted Shim and Bong and banned them from leaving their residence. Police have since searched for Jang and the Vietnamese man, whose name has yet to be announced, but after knowing Jang managed to leave Vietnam, police put him into a wanted notice on charges of “illegally detaining others” pursuant to Article 123 of the Penal Code.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!