Two US Marines vets arrested in Thailand over alleged kidnapping plot after $3m deal for PPE goes bad

Jeremy Hughes Manchester, 41, and Louis William Ziskin, 52, face multiple charges

Two former US Marines have been arrested in Thailand over the alleged kidnapping of a businessman for ransom following a conflict between the men.

The American men were identified as Jeremy Hughes Manchester, 41, and Louis William Ziskin, 52, by Crime Suppression Division (CSD) police during a press conference on Saturday.

A third man, who is from Thailand, was also arrested alongside the Americans over the alleged kidnapping plot and identified as Ekbodin Prasitnarit.

The three men face numerous charges, including illegal assembly, attempted murder, extortion and abduction for ransom, said Pol Lt Gen Jiraphop Phuridet, the deputy commissioner of CSD, on Saturday.

In 2020, Mr Ziskin appointed the Collection Company Limited to negotiate with Paddy The Room Trading Company Limited for the purchase of nearly $3 million-worth of nitrile gloves, according to the Bangkok Post. But the gloves were of poor quality, which ensued a business conflict between the two sides.

Mr Ziskin wanted Taiwanese businessman Wen Yu Chung, a representative of the Collection Company, to pay him back the lost money, but the man refused.

This was when Mr Ziskin sought the assistance of Israeli detective Michael Greenberg, who allegedly helped the former US Marine come up with a kidnapping and ransom plot to earn back his money.

Mr Chung was contacted to meet the men at a restaurant in Bangkok during the middle of the day on 28 March.

Surveillance footage then showed Mr Chung being grabbed and dragged out of the restaurant in broad daylight by multiple men as people in the establishment watched.

After abducting Mr Chung, the men involved made a call to his boss and demanded $2 million in exchange for the man. Mr Chung’s relatives were also contacted and asked for $1 million for his safe return, the Bangkok Post reports.

Neither party yielded to the demands of the abductors and instead contacted the police.

Mr Chung was released at a hospital following the failed ransom attempt and later went to the police to file a formal complaint. The three men allegedly involved were arrested on 15 May.

Mr Ziskin and his accomplices paid nearly $10,000 in bail, but they have to wear ankle monitors and are currently not allowed to leave Thailand, MSN.com reports.

A reported eight people were involved in the kidnapping, Mr Chung said, but four of them still remain at large. Mr Greenberg was one of the people police have failed to locate.

The three men arrested by police have denied all charges and been turned over to the Thong Lor police for further legal proceedings.