J’can businessman freed by T&T kidnappers
Published:Wednesday | June 5, 2019 | 12:43 AMJason Cross/Gleaner Writer
Yohan Chin, the Jamaican businessman kidnapped by gangsters in Trinidad and Tobago on April 14, is free at last, The Gleaner has learnt.
Gleaner contacts at the Trinidad Guardian last night said Chin was believed to have been released yesterday morning after 51 days in captivity. It was unclear how much, if any, of the US$6 million ransom initially demanded for his release was paid.
“The police have confirmed that it (his release) happened around 7 o’clock, but they were unable to give details as to where and what condition he is in. I am not sure how much of the ransom was actually paid, but his family was negotiating with the kidnappers all along,” the source explained.
Last month, Chin’s family placed a newspaper advertisement appealing to the kidnappers to make contact so a deal could be reached for his safe return.
It is believed that Chin was lured to T&T by his kidnappers on April 10 under the pretence of securing a new business deal, but was taken from his Palmiste home in San Fernando by men geared in ski masks with ‘Police’ displayed on their hats.
A few days after the kidnapping, Chin’s business partner lodged a report with the police, claiming that the Jamaican had made contact from an undisclosed location, and requested that the partner organise TT$400,000 for transfer, without telling the cops. He said that Chin later called him with instructions to pool together US$6 million by selling a Porsche Panamera, a Mercedes-Benz, and a piece of land the Jamaican owned.
The trail had gone cold for some time and leads dried up, without knowledge of whether Chin was alive.
Police sources had also reportedly said that the kidnappers were difficult to track, as they preferred using “old-school methods” of communication.