Business deal gone sour leads to kidnap

CEBU CITY — A business deal gone sour led to the abduction and slashing of the throat of a young Chinese-Filipino businessman by another young "Chinoy" trader.

James King, 30, owner of a motel chain, among them Prince Court and Metropolis Court, is in serious condition.

Lawyers for King, a bachelor-son of Jesus King, owner of the J. King Buildings, filed the other day a complaint for kidnapping with serious physical injuries against Roderick Go, his alleged abductor; Go’s wife Grace, driver Henry Baritua and personal police bodyguard PO2 Roberto Petilos.

King’s lawyer Rolindo Navarro said the incident apparently stemmed from Go’s request for King to encash his checks amounting to P35.9 million.

Navarro said it was not the first time Go had encashed checks through King who had done so previously through a bills purchase agreement with the Metrobank’s Plaridel Branch which the lawyer described to be initially good.

The first time Go encashed a check with King was for P8.13 million.

Last June 21, Go again requested King to encash a check amounting to P20 million. Later on the same day, he had another check for P7.8 million similarly encashed.

King learned later that the checks Go had given him to be encashed had bounced.

Three days after, King reportedly received a call from Go requesting to see him at the roofdeck parking lot of the Metrobank branch purportedly to discuss how to settle the bad checks.

Arriving for the meeting, he came upon Go in his own car. Go reportedly opened the baggage compartment of his new Toyota Corolla Altis and asked King to help him look for a ring inside it.

When King obliged and stooped down into the compartment, Go allegedly took out a box cutter and suddenly slashed his throat, and tried to shove him inside the compartment.

In an affidavit prepared for him, King said he fought hard to defend himself from the sudden attack, succeeding in parrying the subsequent slashing but absorbing a number of cuts in the process.

In the ensuing struggle, the box cutter broke and Go was unable to close the compartment on King because King kept kicking the cover back up.

At this point, King said he pleaded with Go that if his intention was to kidnap him, he would oblige but asked to ride inside the car because he could not breathe inside the baggage compartment.

Go obliged and let King inside the car, then drove out of the building to pick up the rest of those named in the complaint.

King said that after they had driven around for almost an hour, he began to sense that the group could be planning to kill him so he began to plead for his life, asking to be brought to a hospital.

King underwent surgery and learned later that the group who had taken him had gone into hiding.

Go’s driver Henry Baritua turned himself in the other day. He refused to talk to reporters.

It was King’s sister Susan Bernardo who called the police to report the incident.

Waterfront police station chief Noel Gillamac has started investigating the incident and was able to talk to Go’s wife Grace who denied any knowledge about it, claiming it was only King and her husband who were together at that time.

Grace said she only learned about the incident when she rang up her husband’s mobile phone and was answered instead by King who claimed his throat was slashed by her husband.

Police found the car in the garage of the Go residence. Among the items found in the compartment were a bloodied checkered pajama and assorted documents. Bloodstains were found inside the vehicle as well as some signs of struggle. — Freeman News Service