Two foreign students plead not guilty to staged kidnapping for RM2.9mil ransom

Yingxi (in black, second from right) and Runbao (in blue cap) being brought to the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court to face charges of staging a kidnapping. - Photo courtesy of Sinar Harian

KUALA LUMPUR: Two students from a Singapore university pleaded not guilty in the Sessions Court on Tuesday (May 13) to staging a fake kidnapping to trick one of their mothers into paying a RM2.9mil ransom.

Zhang Runbao, 23, and Ye Yingxi, 18, both Chinese nationals, were jointly charged with attempting to deceive Ye's mother, Cheng Zhiwen, by making a phone call and sharing a video purporting to show Ye being abducted.