Bay Area Crime Ring Tied to Kidnaping Reported Smashed
A Bay Area crime ring called The Family, which carried out extortion, home invasion robberies and a kidnaping, has been smashed by state and local authorities, a newspaper reported Sunday.
Investigators said the 1991 abduction of San Francisco business executive David Lai led to the demise of the ring operated by Taiwanese criminals, according to a report in the San Francisco Examiner.
Chien I. Chiang, an alleged leader, pleaded guilty June 30 to kidnaping and was sentenced to nine years in state prison. He is also charged in Taiwan with two counts of attempted murder.
Four other Family members were sentenced this month, and a fifth is slated to be sentenced today on one count of kidnaping.
Another alleged kingpin, David Fang, is awaiting trial on a kidnaping charge. He is also wanted in Taiwan on a warrant charging fraud of $124 million.
Chiang and Fang fled to the United States in the 1980s, according to police.
“These guys were well connected and had the money to organize,” said Steve Sakata of the attorney general’s Bureau of Investigations Asian Task Force.
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