The attack was terrifying and violent. Four masked men with guns burst into the bedroom of two Chinese students in the early hours.
They dragged the couple from their bed to the living room, where they bound them and gagged them with wide strips of yellow tape.
The two were assaulted, forced to sign over ownership of their car and driven to the middle of nowhere and dumped on the roadside.
All the while, a fifth man was in charge, barking orders at the other four. With horror, the couple recognised him. He was their flatmate, Yiyu Zhang.
The man police called "dangerous, manipulative and controlling" arrived in New Zealand three years ago to study. He struggled with his management course at Waikato University but soon found something he was good at - kidnapping and extortion.
Last month, half way through his trial in the Hamilton District Court, Zhang, 23, pleaded guilty to 40 charges, including kidnapping.
On Tuesday night a jury found others in the gang guilty of various charges stemming from its reign of terror among Hamilton's Asian students.
Judge Neal MacLean said the case had exposed the jury to a completely different side of life. However, it was likely to become less foreign as the influx of substantial numbers of Chinese students continued. (New Zealand has about 80,000 foreigners on student visas.)
The charges related to four incidents last year in which Zhang and his associates, using guns and standover tactics, extorted thousands of dollars in money, cars and computers.
The Hamilton District Court heard how the incidents usually occurred late at night. The group preyed on people they knew.
The first incident that police know of occurred in the late hours of March 24, 2002. Chen Chung Yen, tall and initially friendly, lured three students into the darkened room at the Boundary Court Motor Inn. He then demanded money - "not hundreds, but thousands," the victims recalled.
The students were driven to Auckland and forced to handover $6000 in cash. When they were released they returned home to find their flat ransacked and a laptop missing.
Like many of the victims, they decided against going to the police for fear of repercussions.
In most of the extortions Zhang was the ringleader, the man with the contacts and access to guns. He boasted he had connections with Black Power.
His friend Jeremy Toimata was the heavy, an extra threat. In one incident, his role was to stand silently in front of the only exit, armed with a gun. In another, he chased and beat a terrified victim when he tried to run away from Zhang on the beach at Raglan.
With each success, Zhang's confidence grew. In March 2002 he used toy guns. By September he carried a loaded assault rifle and had carefully planned the kidnapping of his two flatmates.
On that night his new friend Guangyi Ma played an important role. He was to let the flatmates think he was a victim, then put the police off track by denying the entire kidnapping - should his flatmates ever report the matter. The next day, after packing their bags, the two flatmates did go to the police.
Ma kept to his story but Zhang was arrested anyway. So too were Ma, Yen and Toimata after an extensive police investigation.
In most of the incidents, the victims were chosen because of something they were perceived to have done to Zhang or his friends.
In the Boundary Court Motel incident, Yen claimed one of the three students had beaten him and the extortion was payback. Later that month a student was beaten and ordered to pay hundreds of dollars in reparation for a burglary of his own flat which Zhang claimed he committed.
In April another student was threatened and ordered to pay $15,000 reparation for taking the girlfriend of one of Zhang's friends - even though she had already split up with the friend. When the student didn't pay, he was taken to Raglan and beaten.
Police found a diary in which Zhang had written six plans and a detailed analysis of how he would carry each one out.
These plans varied, from bringing his former teacher Zhou to New Zealand for a sightseeing trip, to opening a restaurant and classy brothel in Hamilton. He also planned to kill leaders of opposition gangs.
He had a common saying, "Never hesitate to cheat in order to win."
Underneath his plans Zhang had written: "Don't underestimate your enemies."
He did, however, underestimate his victims. At the beginning he believed they would be too scared to testify. Some fled the country. But enough did take the stand.
On July 16, two weeks into the trial, Zhang decided to plead guilty.
Judge MacLean remanded Zhang, Toimata and Chen Chun Yen in custody for sentencing on Septermber 2. Ma was granted bail.
The extortion ring
* Yiyu Zhang, 23, pleaded guilty partway through trial to 40 charges including kidnapping, robbery, demanding with menaces and threatening to kill.
* Jeremy Dean Toimata,19, was found guilty of 10 charges including kidnapping, aggravated robbery and assault using a gun in relation to separate incidents on March 24 and April 24.
* Chen Chung Yen, 19, was found guilty of eight charges including kidnapping, demanding money with menaces and robbery relating to the March 24 incident.
* Guangyi Ma, 21, was found guilty of attempting to pervert the course of justice. He was acquitted of all charges relating to the extortion ring.
Gang's reign of terror
March 24, 2002: Yiyu Zhang, Jeremy Toimata and Chen Chung Yen lure three students to Hamilton's Boundary Court Motor Inn. They demand money and drive the students to Auckland to get more. $5800 is taken. Zhang steals a laptop then charges a student $800 to get it back.
March 27, 2002: Zhang and an associate burgle student Kan Fu's flat. They then accuse Kan Fu, beat him, then demand he pay reparation to his flatmates and to Zhang. He pays Zhang $500, then takes next flight home to China.
April 2002: Zhang and an associate demand $10,000 from student Bo Li for allegedly taking a friend's girlfriend. He does not pay.
Late April 2002: Zhang and Toimata threaten Mr Li again for not paying. On April 24 they take him to Raglan and hit him when he tries to run. Zhang take ownership of his Nissan Skyline and sells it.
September 10, 2002: Zhang and four masked men storm Zhang's flat. They bind and gag two flatmates and Guangyi Ma. Shots are fired and one flatmate is hit. Zhang takes ownership of flatmates' $20,000 Mitsubishi Lancer. Guangyi Ma, 21, tells police the incident never happened.
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