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FBI tracks down kidnapped Chinese college student abducted for ransom by sleazy Queens gang

Alison Gendar New York Daily News 11/01/2010 18:13
FBI tracks down kidnapped Chinese college student abducted for ransom by sleazy Queens gang - USA - NYC - crime - New York - FBI - kidnap


It didn't take long for a rich Chinese student to become a big man on campus - flashing a lot of cash, picking up big bar tabs and running with a fast crowd.



His free-spending ways caught the eye of a vicious Queens gang, which took him hostage for four days and demanded $3.5 million from his family.

The 24-year-old was terrorized, zapped with a stun gun and warned he would be killed if his rich father didn't cough up cash.

The rare case of stranger abduction ended when the FBI swooped in and rescued the young man - found blindfolded, his head wrapped in duct tape.

"This kid was new to the country - a couple months - had some money, picked up the tab a lot and literally fell in with the wrong crowd," said Michael Harkins, FBI coordinating supervising special agent.

The saga began on the Boston campus of Northeastern University, where the son of a real estate tycoon was in his first year.

Like many new arrivals, the victim - whose name is being withheld by the Daily News - gravitated to other Chinese immigrants.

He met a guy named Xin Lin and his crew at karaoke bars and started making weekend treks from Boston to Queens to hang out.

Lin was no true friend, though. The feds say he was the ringleader of the kidnap plot.


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