A Chinese crypto millionaire suffocated after being buried alive reportedly by his girlfriend and a gang of men who plundered his crypto wallets after he was kidnapped.
The body of wealthy Yong Wang, 38, was discovered in a field in the Arnavutkoy district, on the outskirts of Istanbul, Turkey, after his lawyer filed a missing person report with the Bakirkoy District Police Department on 24th January.
Officers were able to find the body after they traced the GPRS signal of the vehicle Wang had been using, and identified its last known location in a rural area of Arnavutkoy.
During a search of the field near where the car had been parked, police found shovels and pickaxes before uncovering Wang’s body buried in the soil.
Investigators said his hands, feet and mouth had been bound with tape and that he had been buried in an upright position.
An initial forensic report from the Council of Forensic Medicine concluded that Wang died of suffocation after being struck on the head with a hard object and then buried.
Authorities said it was highly likely he was still alive when he was put into the ground.
The investigation established that Wang went to Istanbul Airport on 19th January to collect his girlfriend, identified as Shuyang Liu, who had travelled from China.
Police later determined they went to a hotel and then to a luxury restaurant.
CCTV footage from outside the restaurant shows Wang being surrounded and forced into a vehicle by four men after he and the woman stepped outside.
Officers said the woman was seen repeatedly sending messages on her phone before the abduction and crouching down during the incident.
According to investigators, one of the suspects later dropped the woman off in Aksaray.
She then returned to her hotel and travelled to Istanbul Airport, leaving Turkey for China the same day.
Police identified four suspects — Chao Wien, Zhuangyoun Wang, Zhen Qın and Chadong Wang — who entered Turkey on 16th January and departed from Istanbul Airport on 21st January on a flight to Beijing.
Authorities said Wang’s mobile phone and crypto wallet were taken, and investigators identified a substantial transfer of funds from his cryptocurrency account after he went missing.
His lawyer stated that a marked drop in the account balance was detected following his disappearance.
Interpol has issued international arrest warrants for Liu and the four other suspects as the investigation continues.
To find out more about the author, editor or agency that supplied this story – please click below. Story By: Aloysius Fernandes, Sub-Editor: Simona Kitanovska, Agency: Newsflash
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