Claims of ransom payout for captive

KOTA KINABALU: A ransom of US$300,000 (RM988,380) is believed to have been paid to secure the release of Taiwanese Evelyn Chang An-wei, who was held hostage by Abu Sayyaf gunmen in the southern Philippines island of Jolo.

Though officials in the Philippines and Taiwan have maintained that the 58-year-old Chang was rescued from her captors who snatched her from Sabah’s Pom Pom island on Nov 15, the ransom amount was widely speculated in the Taiwanese media.