Wealthy Chinese businessman was blindfolded, gagged and held in a cage by gang who kidnapped him at gunpoint during a round of golf and demanded £12m ransom, court told
Published: 20:21, 8 April 2024 | Updated: 20:21, 8 April 2024
A wealthy Chinese businessman was kidnapped at gunpoint during a game of golf and held in a cage while a gang demanded a £15 million ransom, a court heard today.
Dylan Huang was on a championship course at Brocket Hall in Hertfordshire when five men allegedly raced towards him and snatched him before bundling him into a car.
His PA and two other women he was with were left at the scene. They are said to have had an unknown substance sprayed in their faces, leaving them in distress.
Mr Huang, who is in his 30s and was living in Mill Hill, north London[2], at the time, was blindfolded and gagged while kept in a cage at a location in Surrey where his alleged abductors assaulted him while demanding the ransom in Bitcoin[3].
Dylan Huang was on a championship course at Brocket Hall (pictured) in Hertfordshire when five men allegedly raced towards him and snatched him before bundling him into a car
But he was suddenly released 30 hours into his ordeal and left at a remote spot near the M25 motorway.
Opening the case, prosecutor Russell Pyne said: ‘They wanted to be paid £15 million in bitcoin. He said he had stocks and shares but they could not be accessed straight away.
‘He spoke to his wife on the phone and had a conversation with three of his friends for loans.
‘After several hours, it seemed the kidnappers were getting angry.
They started to hurt him – hitting his leg with some sort of object.’
Describing the abduction on October 24 last year, Mr Pyne described how the men pointed a gun at Mr Huang and hit him in the face.
They then pushed him into a black Audi Q7 which drove away at speed from the mansion, which once belonged to Lord Charlie Brocket, who appeared on I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! in 2004.
‘When Mr Huang kicked at the door of the car, he was told he would be killed with a knife,’ the prosecutor added.
‘He was put in the footwell of the car and three of his captors had their feet on him. A cover was put over his head. During the journey, cuffs were applied to his hands and legs.’
The gang allegedly took their target to a property near Guildford in Surrey where he was blindfolded and tape put over his mouth.
He was taken up some stairs to a cage which was too small to stand up in, St Albans Crown Court was told.
Food was made available but he was not allowed access to a toilet.
The gang allegedly took their target to a property near Guildford in Surrey where he was blindfolded and tape put over his mouth.
Pictured: Brocket Hall
After the attempts to get the crytocurrency, Mr Huang was driven to a remote area near Silvermere Golf Course in Cobham, Surrey, near the junction of the M25 and M3, and released the following night.
He knocked on someone’s door at 11pm and the occupant agreed to book him a cab to take him home.
Tianfu Guo, 35, of no fixed abode, is on trial for the alleged plot.
He denies conspiracy to kidnap, conspiracy to blackmail and possession of an imitation firearm.
He was aided in court by a Mandarin interpreter.
The defendant was arrested in Chinatown in London an hour before Mr Huang’s release, the jury was told, after an Audi Q5 he was in was tracked on a CCTV camera with automatic number plate recognition travelling in convoy with the car Mr Huang had been driven away in.
Six other suspects are believed to be in China and are outside of UK jurisdiction, Mr Pyne said.
The trial continues.