The man was then detained for 50 hours, where he suffered “torture sessions” which included being beaten, having his breathing restricted with pillows, being force-fed drugs, electrocuted repeatedly with a dog shock collar, and having sewing needles hammered into his toenails after an attempt to rip them off with pliers failed.
The man was also hit repeatedly in the face with a wooden mallet and told to sit on a white plastic sheet before he was tortured with the pliers and needles.
The court heard the man screamed and cried as the trio recorded the abuse on their phones, which they sent to the man’s son as they demanded amounts of money ranging from $3 million to $5 million.
The man was told to convince his son, who lived in Sydney, that he needed the money for a business investment.
“Are you working today? I need $3 million urgently please help me out. I know it is difficult. Once the payment is received I will return home,” the man told his son through messages.
But the son struggled to find the money and, after suspecting his father had been kidnapped due to his increasingly unusual messages and video calls, went to police in New South Wales.
NSW Police contacted their WA counterparts when they realised the mobile phones being used to contact the son had mapping data revealing their location in Caversham.
Before police swooped, the kidnappers, who by then had extorted $50,000 of their victim’s money, made him sign a document and have photos taken as part of a confession to being a Chinese spy.
On Tuesday, the court was told police stormed the Airbnb and rescued the victim, who was taken to hospital and suffered an episode similar to a heart attack. He later recovered from his injuries.
In the house, police found the torture weapons and arrested the two Chinese men.
Hawkings, who by then had returned home, was later arrested.
The court heard the alleged mastermind behind the failed plot was Ge, who was suffering extreme financial hardship due to accruing a gambling debt and being pressured to pay for an operation for his father.
His lawyer also told the court Ge was culturally expected to support his wife’s Chinese parents.
“The offending was financially motivated,” his lawyer told the court.
“But he did not want money to fund a lavish lifestyle. He wanted to fund medical expenses for his parents and settle their debt, as well as show his wife’s parents that he was a capable carer for them.”
She told the court her client was not a “seasoned criminal”, had no prior criminal history and admitted that while there were elements of the offending that were sophisticated, “there were elements that were clumsy and unintelligent”.
“Frankly, it was doomed to fail.”
The three men pleaded guilty to charges of demanding property by threats and kidnapping and will be sentenced in December.
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