THE Department of Justice has cleared the son of Filipino-Chinese businessman Anson Que of the kidnapping for ransom and killing of his father and their driver last March.
“Anson Que’s son, Alvin Que, has been exculpated due to lack of evidence to establish or indicate his involvement in the crime of kidnapping for ransom with homicide,” the DOJ said in a statement yesterday after the completion of the preliminary investigation on the case by state prosecutors.
Alvin was earlier tagged in the killing of his father, though the PNP has cleared him and said he was not among the respondents.
Que’s lawyer, Perlito Campanilla, previously said his client is fully cooperating with authorities in the investigation of his father’s killing, even as he maintained he had nothing to do with the crime.
The younger Que was linked to the crime after he had earlier taken part in the negotiation for the payment of ransom to free his father and the driver.
One of the suspects arrested by the police, David Tan Liao, also claimed in his extrajudicial confession that Alvin had ordered the kidnapping and killing of his father.
In the same resolution, the DOJ found “prima facie evidence with reasonable certainty of conviction” against Gong Wen Li alias “Kelley Tan” in the same case.
The DOJ said it has “directed” the filing of “two counts” for kidnapping for ransom with homicide against “Kelley.”
Kelley, believed to be a co-mastermind in Que’s kidnap-slay, was arrested last month in Boracay along with another suspect.
Police said Kelley played a key role in the case, having allegedly lured Que to the location where he and his driver were abducted.
She was also allegedly the one who used Que’s phone to contact and negotiate with his family during the abduction.
Three other respondents – Yuan Haohua, Yuan Fanquiang, and Lee Hsiao Ting- have been referred to the PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group for a “case build up” for possible violation of Republic Act 12010 or the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act.
The DOJ has yet to release a copy of the resolution as of press time.
The DOJ had wrapped up the preliminary investigation into the kidnapping for ransom with homicide cases filed against five individuals in the case last May 8.
The five were Liao, Richard Austria, Reymart Catequista, Haohua Yang and Fangquiang Yuan.
Que and his driver, Armanie Pabillo, were last seen alive in his office in Valenzuela on March 29.
Their bodies were discovered, stuffed in nylon bags, and abandoned in Barangay Macabud in Rodriguez, Rizal last April 9.
