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1999 Bukit Timah kidnapping
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1999 Bukit Timah kidnapping
In September 1999, in an attempt to discharge his bankruptcy, 33-year-old Vincent Lee Chuan Leong (李泉梁 Lǐ Quánliáng), a Singaporean marketing manager, together with Shi Song Jing (施松进 Shī Sōngjìn) and Zhou Jian Guang (周建光 Zhōu Jiànguāng), both illegal immigrants from China, kidnapped a 14-year-old female student in Singapore. They abducted her into their rented car and demanded a S$500,000 ransom from the girl's father, a wealthy second-hand car dealer. The sum was lowered through negotiation to S$330,000. The ransom was paid and the girl released without harm.
Shortly after, Lee and his two accomplices were arrested by the Singapore Police Force. Lee was sentenced to life imprisonment for kidnapping by ransom. Shi and Zhou received the same sentence in a separate trial. After serving twenty years, ten months and nine days in jail, Lee was granted parole and released on 22 June 2020.
Vincent Lee Chuan Leong, born in Singapore in 1966, was an academically inclined student who studied at the Presbyterian Boys' School before earning a double degree in mathematics and finance at university. Lee then worked as a marketing manager. He is a Christian and according to the pastor of the church Lee frequented, he was known for his good character. He counselled troubled youth who approached him, and even offered them free tuition. Many people from the church were shocked when his crime became known.
By August 1999, Lee was facing potential bankruptcy from share trading, and his heavily pregnant wife required expensive medical attention. The couple's first child, a son, was born in October or November 1999.
Due to his desperation to pay off his debts, Lee decided to kidnap a girl for ransom, specifically a teenage girl who was the daughter of a rich family living in one of the affluent neighbourhoods in Bukit Timah. For his plan, Lee hired two illegal Chinese immigrants he met at a coffee shop near Hougang Plaza. One of the foreigners was 26-year-old Zhou Jian Guang, a China-born native of Fujian Province, who was married with a five-year-old son, and he first came to Singapore to work as a construction worker in order to build a house for his parents, wife and son. Since July 1999, he lost his job but continued to stay in Singapore. The other was 29-year-old Shi Song Jing, who came to Singapore from China in February 1997 due to him being duped about various well-paid jobs in Singapore. Shi was abandoned by his agent and he had to stay all alone in Singapore as an illegal immigrant for six months before getting a job as a plasterer. Both Zhou and Shi agreed to assist Lee in executing the kidnap plot.
Lee made a plan to abduct a target at Bukit Timah, starting with renting a van for the purpose of forcibly bringing their target into the van, and also rented a flat to use as their hideout and their place to confine the kidnap victim during the kidnapping. They also placed false license plates with false vehicle numbers on the van to avoid identification of their getaway vehicle.
Lee, Zhou, and Shi carried out their plan on 9 September 1999.
On the night itself, at Bukit Timah, a 14-year-old girl was walking back home to her house, and was abducted by Lee and his accomplices inside their get-away vehicle.
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1999 Bukit Timah kidnapping
In September 1999, in an attempt to discharge his bankruptcy, 33-year-old Vincent Lee Chuan Leong (李泉梁 Lǐ Quánliáng), a Singaporean marketing manager, together with Shi Song Jing (施松进 Shī Sōngjìn) and Zhou Jian Guang (周建光 Zhōu Jiànguāng), both illegal immigrants from China, kidnapped a 14-year-old female student in Singapore. They abducted her into their rented car and demanded a S$500,000 ransom from the girl's father, a wealthy second-hand car dealer. The sum was lowered through negotiation to S$330,000. The ransom was paid and the girl released without harm.
Shortly after, Lee and his two accomplices were arrested by the Singapore Police Force. Lee was sentenced to life imprisonment for kidnapping by ransom. Shi and Zhou received the same sentence in a separate trial. After serving twenty years, ten months and nine days in jail, Lee was granted parole and released on 22 June 2020.
Vincent Lee Chuan Leong, born in Singapore in 1966, was an academically inclined student who studied at the Presbyterian Boys' School before earning a double degree in mathematics and finance at university. Lee then worked as a marketing manager. He is a Christian and according to the pastor of the church Lee frequented, he was known for his good character. He counselled troubled youth who approached him, and even offered them free tuition. Many people from the church were shocked when his crime became known.
By August 1999, Lee was facing potential bankruptcy from share trading, and his heavily pregnant wife required expensive medical attention. The couple's first child, a son, was born in October or November 1999.
Due to his desperation to pay off his debts, Lee decided to kidnap a girl for ransom, specifically a teenage girl who was the daughter of a rich family living in one of the affluent neighbourhoods in Bukit Timah. For his plan, Lee hired two illegal Chinese immigrants he met at a coffee shop near Hougang Plaza. One of the foreigners was 26-year-old Zhou Jian Guang, a China-born native of Fujian Province, who was married with a five-year-old son, and he first came to Singapore to work as a construction worker in order to build a house for his parents, wife and son. Since July 1999, he lost his job but continued to stay in Singapore. The other was 29-year-old Shi Song Jing, who came to Singapore from China in February 1997 due to him being duped about various well-paid jobs in Singapore. Shi was abandoned by his agent and he had to stay all alone in Singapore as an illegal immigrant for six months before getting a job as a plasterer. Both Zhou and Shi agreed to assist Lee in executing the kidnap plot.
Lee made a plan to abduct a target at Bukit Timah, starting with renting a van for the purpose of forcibly bringing their target into the van, and also rented a flat to use as their hideout and their place to confine the kidnap victim during the kidnapping. They also placed false license plates with false vehicle numbers on the van to avoid identification of their getaway vehicle.
Lee, Zhou, and Shi carried out their plan on 9 September 1999.
On the night itself, at Bukit Timah, a 14-year-old girl was walking back home to her house, and was abducted by Lee and his accomplices inside their get-away vehicle.