Armed Crime squad detectives have arrested five people over the past week as part of their investigation into an incident where a Chinese national was kidnapped and attempts were made to extort money from him.
A 21-year-old woman, who is a Chinese national, contacted police on 16 August after receiving information via WeChat that a male friend was being held hostage.
The 19-year-old man, who is also a Chinese national, told the woman he was being held hostage in a CBD apartment by a number of armed men.
The men also made demands for $200,000 from the teenager.
Police attended the apartment about 1.20am on 17 August and located the man without incident.
Warrants were subsequently executed at residential properties in the Melbourne CBD and Docklands, and three men were arrested.
All three are Chinese nationals.
The trio were interviewed by police and a 23-year-old man (DENG) and a 22-year-old man (ZHOU), were subsequently charged with false imprisonment, attempted armed robbery, common law assault, unlawful assault, extortion and blackmail.
They faced Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on 18 August and were bailed to appear again on 9 November.
A 21-year-old man was released pending further enquiries.
Yesterday, detectives arrested three more men in relation to the incident.
A 23-year-old man, a 25-year-old man and a 27-year-old man, all Chinese nationals were arrested in Docklands and subsequently interviewed.
The trio has been released pending further enquiries and the investigation remains ongoing.
Earlier this year Victoria Police published updated information in relation to a number of scams where Mandarin-speaking Chinese students have predominantly been targeted.
These scams often involve fake information being provided to victims in order to extort money from them.
Victims are often threatened by people falsely claiming to be Chinese government officials or police, and asking for large sums of money to be transferred in order to prevent the victim being charged or deported.
Information about the scam along with crime prevention information is accessible on the Victoria Police website:
https://www.police.vic.gov.au/cybercrime-and-online-scams
A Mandarin language version is also available:
Anyone with information about these scams is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or file a confidential report online at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au
