A Fort Lee resident who was kidnapped from his home and tied up, his hands bound and duct tape placed over his eyes and mouth, was rescued from a Queens building by NYPD officers this week — and three New York City men face charges.
Fa Deng, 42, of Staten Island, New York, and Albert Ferrelli, 50, and Chiahao Lee, 30, both of Queens, New York, are charged by complaint with conspiring to commit kidnapping. The three defendants appeared today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Cathy L. Waldor in Newark federal court and were detained.
According to U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger, documents filed in this case and statements made in court, Deng, Ferrelli, Lee, and another conspirator drove to the victim’s home in Fort Lee on April 5, 2022.
Ferrelli and the other conspirator entered the victim’s home wearing masks, grabbed the New Jersey man and bound his hands, placed duct tape over his eyes and mouth, then forced him into a vehicle.
Law enforcement received information that kidnappers had sent the victim’s wife a photograph of the victim bound and duct-taped, demanding a ransom of approximately $680,000.
When law enforcement responded to the victim’s home, they located what appeared to be duct tape with pieces of latex gloves stuck to it.
After reviewing local surveillance footage, law enforcement identified a gray minivan used in the abduction.
Other surveillance footage showed the minivan crossing the George Washington Bridge shortly after the kidnapping, and subsequently crossing into the Bronx and then into Queens.
The following day, New York Police Department personnel responded to Prince Street in Queens, where they encountered Ferrelli guarding the door to the building.
When officers approached Ferrelli, they heard a man screaming for help inside the building.
Officers entered the building and found the victim with his hands bound, and duct tape over his eyes and mouth.
Surveillance footage obtained by law enforcement showed that during this captivity, the victim attempted to escape by running out of the building where he was eventually found.
The video showed Ferrelli tackling the victim to prevent him from escaping, engaging in a physical scuffle, and pulling him back into the building.
Law enforcement located the gray minivan used in the kidnapping parked in the driveway of Lee’s home in Queens. Records showed that the minivan had been rented by Lee’s wife at LaGuardia Airport on April 4, 2022.
The maximum penalty for the offense is life imprisonment.