Murder, and not kidnapping, was the motive behind the killing of South Korean businessman Jee Ick-joo, the head of the Philippine National Police-Anti-Kidnapping Group (PNP-AKG) said on Monday.

AKG chief Senior Supt. Glenn Dumlao told reporters that their investigation also showed that a Filipino crime syndicate, and not the Korean mafia, killed Jee because he defied their attempts at extortion, encouraging other Korean and Chinese businessmen to do the same.

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“The motive there is murder. In our in-depth investigation, it appears that their real motive is to kill the person,” Dumlao said at the sidelines of the AKG’s anniversary.

“[Jee was] a strict person. He [did] not like extortion and [as a result], other legitimate Chinese and Korean businessmen also did not pay the extortionists,” he said.

When asked who extorted money from Jee, Dumlao said: “Filipinos. It’s a Filipino syndicate. Sta. Isabel and their group.”

Dumlao was referring to SPO3 Ricky Sta. Isabel, who was accused of being a key figure in the killing of Jee.

“It was not the Korean mafia but it was mafia style, [which means] you kill that [person] to instill fear in others…,” he said.

Dumlao added that the AKP would also refer to the Department of Justice (DOJ) two or three persons identified as “principal” suspects by some of those charged earlier with Jee’s killing. He declined to reveal their identities.

According to him, a Korean national served as the contact person between Jee’s wife and his abductors.

“There [was a] go-between who advised the victim’s wife to go with the ransom and then asked for P600,000 to hasten the investigation. So, [the Korean national] became a person of interest for us,” Dumlao said.

“And in our in-depth investigation, we also saw [the Korean’s] link to the group,” he added.

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Dumlao said the Korean police would surrender the suspect to the PNP and it would be up to the DOJ to determine if the latter should be charged in court.

He added that they were also looking into cases of missing Chinese and Korean businessmen who might have also been killed and cremated.

“We want to audit these [cases of] missing persons, especially those who are Korean or Chinese, because they might have fallen into the hands of this group. They’ve been doing this for a long time,” Dumlao said.

Jee was abducted from his house in Angeles City in October during a fake antidrug operation conducted by rogue policemen. He was taken to Camp Crame where he was believed to have been murdered despite a P5-million ransom paid by his wife.

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