Embassy to look into China-based rob gang

MANILA, Philippines - The Chinese embassy will investigate reports that a criminal syndicate based in China is robbing Chinese businessmen in the Philippines, an official said yesterday.

Superintendent Fu Yun Fei, police attaché of the Chinese embassy, assured the Philippine National Police (PNP) of full cooperation as he promised to initiate their own probe to pin down the syndicate.

The PNP said it promised to inform Fu of the progress of the investigation.

The syndicate’s activities were bared after one of its victims, a 32-year-old businessman, complained to the Manila police that he lost P7.6 million to the group.

The Fujian native said he was alone in his condominium unit in Binondo on May 25 when three men, armed with handguns, forced him at gunpoint to transfer money to a bank in China through the Internet.

A police official said the condominium has no closed-circuit television cameras and most of its occupants are Chinese.

Another official said the members of the syndicate rob their intended victim within hours after arriving in the Philippines.

“They also leave for China immediately upon the completion of their mission,” he said.