Official suspended following kidnap, blackmail by local gangster

A deputy director from the Food and Drug Administration in Dongguan, Guangdong Province, who was blackmailed for seven million yuan ($1.13 million) by his partners in an illicit casino, has been suspended from his position, the Dongguan-based news portal timedg.com reported Tuesday.

Feng Peisen, 45, who was the deputy director of the fourth branch of Dongguan Food and Drug Administration, is still under investigation by the city's police for leasing one of his properties in Liuwu village, Shijie district to Cai Hongsheng, a local gangster, to conduct illegal gambling operations.

According to the police investigation, Feng and Cai reached an agreement that Feng would get 31,000 yuan ($5,043) per day from Cai in exchange for protection as well as rent.

The casino was busted by the Shijie branch of Dongguan Public Security Bureau five days after its opening.

Furious at Feng for failing to provide shelter to his illicit business, Cai ordered his people to kidnap Feng. Cai demanded a ransom of seven million yuan.

Feng was rescued on May 25 as his wife called the local police after she received an   emergency call from him. He was sent to the local Puji Hospital for treatment for an inflamed wound after a beating by Cai's gang members.

The local police later arrested Cai and two other people who were allegedly involved in the kidnapping.

Cai Hongguang, younger brother of Cai and deputy director of the Major Case Investigation Branch of Dongcheng Branch of Dongguan Public Security Bureau, has also been suspended from his position and is under investigation by the city's commission for discipline inspection, for coercing and bribing Feng to withdraw the case in the name of protecting Feng's reputation as a governmental official.