PUBLISHED ONMay 14, 2025 4:18 AMByLim KeweiTwo Chinese nationals studying in Singapore were hauled to a Malaysian court on Tuesday (May 13) for allegedly faking a kidnapping.
Zhang Runbao, 23, and Ye Yingxi, 18, are accused of staging the abduction of the younger suspect so as to extort five million yuan (S$900,000) from his mother Cheng Zhiwen, reported Malaysian national news agency, Bernama.
Zhang is an undergraduate at the National University of Singapore, while Ye is a student at the Singapore Institute of Management, reported the New Straits Times.
According to past media reports, Ye had travelled from Singapore to Johor Bahru on April 30. On May 2, Cheng received a video showing her son restrained to a chair and being physically abused.
The woman was told to transfer a ransom of five million yuan to a bank account in China. She and her husband, who were in Dubai at the time for work, then flew to Malaysia and lodged a police report.
On Tuesday, Zhang and Ye pleaded not guilty to a charge of cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property. The offence carries a penalty of between one to 10 years' imprisonment and whipping and a fine.
The duo was also handed another charge of cheating for making another video call to Cheng, which showed Ye similarly tied up and abused, to intimidate her into transferring the ransom. They pleaded not guilty to this charge as well.
The offences allegedly took place between 11.44am and 9.15pm at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur on May 2, according to the New Straits Times.
Zhang and Ye were each granted bail of RM30,000 and ordered to surrender their passports. The case will be heard again on May 27.
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