Four Chinese men were sent to court yesterday by Phnom Penh anti-human trafficking officials for allegedly detaining two Chinese casino patrons for ransom, said Phnom Penh Municipal Military Police secretariat Or Kem An.

Kem An told The Post that Ding Chunyaun, 55, the purported owner of Genting Crown Casino in Poipet, had ordered three men - Zhang Jianwen, 34, Hao Boshi, 45, and Zhang Xiaofei, 54 - to kidnap gamblers Zhun Xiao Liang, 51, and Liu Jun Shen, 46, after they failed to pay back an alleged debt of $770,000 to the casino. The four were arrested on Sunday.

According to Kem An, Ding and his men brought the two men to the Phnom Penh military police on March 1, demanding legal intervention to force the duo to pay back the debt.

“But after the experts interrogated both Chinese men, they found out that Ding Chunyaun’s group confined [Zhun Xiao Liang and Liu Jun Shen] in a dog cage and sent the pictures to their families to demand money via WeChat,” he said.

Ding allegedly ordered his men to kidnap the duo on January 5 and confine them to a cage in a flat near the casino, where they demanded payment from their wives.

Ding also asked his assistant, Chinese national Zhan Qian Qiang, 30, who also allegedly owed him money, to guard them. After being held for nearly two months, the men persuaded Zhan to set them free on February 28, and all three attempted to flee to the Chinese Embassy.

Before making it there, however, Ding’s men allegedly caught Zhun Xiao Liang and Zhan Qian Qiang, while Liu Jun Shen managed to escape.

Kem An confirmed that the four suspects have been brought to Phnom Penh Municipal Court on preliminary charges of “detention for demanding money”.

A person who answered a phone number associated with Crown Genting yesterday only spoke Thai, and a translator was not available.