Valenzuela City police authorities returned on Tuesday to its rightful owner some P2.9 million in ransom money recovered during the rescue operation of a Taiwanese businesswoman kidnapped by kidnap-for-ransom (KFR) gang over the weekend.

The kidnap victim, Margaret Kao, was rescued by combined elements of the Police Anti-Crime Emergency Response (PACER), Valenzuela City police and the Manila police in the operation which also killed six of the suspects in two separate encounters.

Senior Supt. Ranier Idio, Valenzuela City police chief, said the money was recovered by his men during the first encounter in which three of the suspects were killed and the victim subsequently rescued.

Three other suspects were later killed in an encounter in Sta. Cruz, Manila.

"The ransom money was supposed to be returned to the owner the other day but the victim has yet to recover from the trauma that's why it was only returned yesterday," Idio said.

He said the victim was accompanied by officers of an anti-crime group, officers of PACER and her relatives and lawyers.

Idio said the money was reportedly raised by the victim's relatives and gave to the kidnappers in a payoff in a mall in Quezon City.