DoJ rejects dismissal plea in kidnap case

THE Chinese who filed a case for kidnap-for-ransom (KFR) and serious illegal detention against his former business partner lauded the Department of Justice (DoJ) for rejecting the dismissal plea filed by the accused.

Lin Xiaoqing, owner of Big Emperor Technology, a Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO), said that while his claim of being kidnapped was not accepted by the DoJ, the rejection of the dismissal plea of the accused, Richard Lim, and its decision to try Lim for the lesser crime of grave coercion also proved he did not fabricate his story.

In a resolution dated February 27, but released only recently, Prosecutor General Benedicto Malcontento said Lim should be tried for grave coercion for employing «violence, threats, and intimidation» against Lin.

Lim, owner of another POGO, Xionwei Technology, was Lin's business partner in Big Emperor Technology.

Acting on the recommendation by Senior State Prosecutor Richard Anthony Fadullon and Assistant State Prosecutor Michael John Humarang, who evaluated the complaint, Benedicto also rejected Lim's appeal to reject Lin's complaint, saying there is probable cause to prosecute Lim for another criminal offense.

«While I am not fully satisfied with the resolution, I also find it as a vindication to me and my family honor as it substantially proved that everything I narrated of my experience in the hands of Richard Lim and his men are not mere hearsay but rings of truth,» Lin said in a statement.

Lin, also known as «Eric Lim,» filed kidnap-for-ransom and serious illegal detention charges against Lim on July 27, 2023, nearly a year after he and his driver were allegedly abducted by armed men while vacationing at a beach resort in Batangas on Aug. 19, 2022.

The armed men later turned out to be members of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) who arrested Lim on the strength of a warrant of arrest for qualified theft issued by the Pasay City Regional Trial Court. He was subsequently detained at the CIDG facility in Taguig.

Lin said he and his family were threatened with death by Lim and that he was only «freed» on Sept. 14, 2022, but not after allegedly paying a «ransom» of P100 million to