The British national who was reported missing in Zamboanga City
was not kidnapped but went into hiding after duping his Chinese business
partner, police clarified Sunday.
Businessman James David Rowe was reported missing after he failed to
return to his hotel. Rowe was reportedly last seen with an unnamed Filipino man
on Thursday.
Zamboanga City Mayor Celso Lobregat had ordered police search for Rowe
amid fears that he had fallen prey to Muslim extremists in the south who are
known for kidnapping foreigners and Christians.
Last month, the US Embassy received information that Muslim extremists
might be planning to kidnap Americans or other foreigners in Zamboanga, which
has been targeted in the past by militants of the Abu Sayyaf group, a Muslim
extremist outfit with ties to Al-Qaeda
terror network.
Zamboanga police chief Senior Superintendent Lurimer Detran, however,
dismissed this fear after Rowe’s business partner, Kwan Kong Fong, later told police that the
British national took P410,000 (about US$9,650) from him. Kwan claimed that the money was intended to purchase 300 units of petrol
engine. Kwan said he met Rowe in Zamboanga
City on May 1 to discuss
the arrival of the motorboat engines he purchased.
It was Kwan who reported to the Zamboanga City
police that Rowe was missing, Detran said.
Kwah has charged the British businessman with estafa in Zamboanga City.
Earlier, Detran said Rowe “was tracked down in San Carlos City" in Negros Occidental.
The Zamboanga City police is now coordinating with San Carlos City authorities to immediately arrest
Rowe, Detran said. -
Agence France-Press