‘He is worth every penny’

CHANDRA Wong, wife of released kidnap victim Woodlam Wong, said yesterday her husband is worth every penny of the $50,000 she paid the people who snatched and held him for a few hours. This despite the fact that the 52-year-old Mayaro-born woman is now saying she is “personally penniless” as a result. The kidnappers had initially asked for $5 million. “I will now have to work for several years before I could make it back,” Chandra said as she confirmed paying the $50,000. She said she understands the advice given by members of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad (AKS) not to pay ransom money to kidnappers. However, Chandra says she was fearful and decided to pay the money. “It’s my husband. I did what I had to do to get him back. What could I have done?” she queried. Describing the  kidnappers as “hustlers”, senior AKS officers said they asked Wong’s family not to pay the money, and to hold on. “It’s not that we don’t care about the victim but people need to stop paying kidnappers,” a senior AKS source said.

The AKS source also said that if a group of people can collect $50,000 in less than one day, it shows that kidnapping is a thriving business. Wong, 47, of Santa Margarita, St Augustine, was snatched from his blue Mercedes Benz early Tuesday morning by men who had cornered his vehicle with three cars at the corner of Bellsmythe Street and the Priority Bus Route, Curepe. Before they snatched him, Wong, who was asleep at the time of Newsday’s visit, had been at a Valsayn club and AKS officers believe it was from there he was followed.  Wong, father of one, had left his Chaguanas business place, Chinese Wok, around 9.30 pm Monday. No one knew what had happened to Wong until just before 5 pm Tuesday when the kidnappers telephoned his home and asked his wife for $5 million for his safe return. Chandra said the kidnappers sounded quite polite and humble and seemed to be very young.  She said she dealt with the same person all the time and that the individual went as far to tell her, “You are a wonderful person.” She said she told the kidnappers that she could not raise the money and the ransom was then reduced to $3 million and the snatchers later decided to accept $50,000. “I told them I heard of a million, know how to spell it, but never saw a million dollars,” Chandra told Newsday. She said she dropped off the money at the side of a road at Grand Bazaar after 8 pm, after which her husband was released at Nestle’s shortly before 9 pm. “I am just happy to have him home.  It’s just good to have him here,” Chandra said.  She said her husband was blindfolded and gagged during the ordeal but that he was not threatened. After his release, Wong was medically examined then taken home.  He was interviewed yesterday by members of the AKS, who are continuing investigations.