Another Criminal PNP Officers, 3 Korean golfers also ‘tokhang-for-ransom’ victims

The ashes of kidnapped South Korean businessman Jee Ick-joo (left) were reportedly
found at Gream Funeral Services, a crematorium owned by a former police officer

Three South Korean tourists who are golfers were a victim of hoodlum Philippine Policemen they robbed and extorted money from them and senior police officer said that they suspected larger racket targeting tourists from these wayward cops.

The announcement fueled fears of police abuse under the cover of President Duterte’s deadly war on crime, after authorities announced last week that policemen murdered a South Korean businessman then extorted money from his wife.

“They came to the Philippines just to play golf but they went through a traumatic experience,” said Chief Supt. Aaron Aquino, a regional police head.

He said the three South Koreans were staying at an upscale gated community in Angeles City, Pampanga province, when policemen barged into their house under the pretext of carrying out an illegal gambling raid last December 30, 2016.

They robbed the Koreans of their computers, jewelry, golf clubs, golf shoes and P10,000, according to Aquino. He said the three South Koreans were then held at a police station for about 8 hours until a friend paid P300,000 for their freedom.

The three victims reported the incident to the South Korean Embassy, which informed the Philippine National Police, Aquino said.

This led to an investigation that found seven policemen were involved, according to Aquino, who said the men faced dismissal from service.

However, he said the offending officers would not face criminal charges because that would require the South Koreans, who had left the country, to return to the Philippines.
“They don’t want to come back. They are terrified,” he said.

The crime happened in the same gated subdivision where policemen abducted a South Korean businessman Jee Ick-joo last October. He was abducted in a fake antidrug operation he was strangled to death inside Camp Crame, the PNP national headquarters in Quezon City, but his wife, thinking he was alive, later paid about P5 million in ransom.

PNP Chief Dela Rosa identified the seven policemen as PO3s Arnold Nagayo, Gomerson Evangelista, and Roentjen Domingo; PO2s Richard King and Ruben Rodriguez; and PO1s Jayson Ibe and Mark Joseph Pineda, all assigned to Angeles City police station.