2 Foreigners Nabbed in Anson Que Kidnap-Slay Case

Two foreign nationals linked to the kidnapping and murder of Chinese-Filipino businessman Anson Que were arrested in Boracay by operatives of the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG).

The arrests were confirmed Monday by Police Lt. Gen. Edgar Okubo, head of the special investigation task group handling the high-profile case.

The suspects, who remain unnamed as of press time, were immediately turned over to the PNP Anti-Kidnapping Group (AKG) for debriefing.

They will be endorsed to the Bureau of Immigration for inquest proceedings as undesirable aliens.

Que, also known as Anson Tan, and his driver Armanie Pabillo were abducted on March 29 and later found dead on April 9 along a roadside in Rodriguez, Rizal.

“The two bodies were placed in a nylon bag, tied with nylon rope, and their faces were wrapped with duct tape,” said Police Lt. Col. Chitadel Gaoiran of Police Regional Office 4A.

The victims, found wearing only underwear, had head injuries and were confirmed to have died from strangulation based on autopsy reports.

Authorities revealed that Que was killed despite the family paying a PHP200 million ransom.

An initial ransom of PHP10 million was sent to a cryptocurrency account on March 31, followed by an additional PHP3 million on April 2.

Three other suspects—Ricardo Austria David, Raymart Catequista, and David Tan Liao—were earlier arrested and remain in AKG custody.

One of the suspects, David Tan Liao, accused Que’s son, Ronxian Gou (also known as Alvin Que), of masterminding the crime.

According to police, Alvin acted as the family’s negotiator and ransom payer, but was later cleared due to lack of corroborating evidence.

The PNP instead identified David Tan Liao, Chinese national Wenli Gong (alias Kelly Tan Lim, Bao Wenli, Axin, and Huang Yanling), and another unnamed individual as the alleged masterminds.

A PHP10 million reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest of Gong, who remains at large.

Authorities traced the ransom trail to casino junket operators 9 Dynasty Group and White Horse Club, which were allegedly used to launder the ransom through cryptocurrency channels.

PNP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Jean Fajardo said Chinese national Li Duan Wang, also known as Mark Ong from Fujian, was behind the 9 Dynasty Group.

Li reportedly owns businesses in gambling, remittance, and an unlicensed cryptocurrency exchange operating without clearance from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas or registration with the Anti-Money Laundering Council.

The 9 Dynasty Group transferred funds to accounts under Lin Tingyu, Deng Chengzhi, and Lin Ning, while White Horse Club transferred to Luo Guohui and Nguyen Huy Dung.

Authorities said Lin Ning later sent funds to an account named under Ni Qinhui, previously arrested by the National Bureau of Investigation for espionage.

The crypto ransom funds were transferred multiple times across various accounts and wallets, making tracking difficult.

Despite the complexity, police managed to trace and freeze USD$205,942 (around PHP11.40 million) in crypto assets outside the Philippines.

However, Fajardo said a larger amount—USD$1,365,113 or roughly PHP75.58 million—was withdrawn through a USDT account based in Cambodia.

That account was previously investigated by U.S. authorities for suspected money laundering, she added.

Alvin Que remains a respondent in a kidnapping-for-ransom with homicide complaint pending a motion to remove him, according to Prosecutor General Richard Fadullon.