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DEATHS IN BROOKLYN

Chinese American Couple Murdered

An elderly Chinese American couple who were prominent local community activists and political donors, were found murdered in their Brooklyn apartment on Jan. 28, police said.

The bodies of Josephine Lin, 68, and her husband, Shan, 70, were found with plastic bags wrapped around their heads and their hands and feet bound with duct tape. Both died from strangulation and suffocation, and were apparently killed the day before, authorities said.

Police said there were no signs of forced entry into the co-op in the Lindsay Park Houses, a federally subsidized complex in Williamsburg.

Investigators have twice questioned their son, Samuel, who discovered his slain parents when he entered the apartment with his own key after he became concerned that they weren’t answering their phone. The son told investigators he last saw his parents the day before.

No arrests have been made yet in the case, said police.

Authorities refused to comment publicly on a motive for the slaying, but a report in the Daily News, quoting police sources, said detectives are looking into tips that the couple may have been extorting money from immigrants to help them move up a waiting list for vacancies at the housing complex.

The couple lived at the Lindsay Park Houses, a middle-income Mitchell Lama complex, for 20 years. Josephine Lin was a former member of the complex’s co-op board and was in charge of the committee that chose prospective owners from a waiting list. She owned two apartments in the 2,700-unit complex, which has three Olympic-size pools.

Josephine Lin retired two years ago from Metropolitan Life in Queens, where she worked as an insurance agent. The couple were active members of two Christian churches, the Boon Church in Flushing, Queens and the Overseas Chinese Mission church in Manhattan’s Chinatown.

Josephine Lin also owned a building in Chinatown.

The murders shocked New York’s Asian Pacific American community, where the Lin’s have been fixtures on the local political scene for the past three decades.

“I was very shaken and saddened. No one deserves to die like that,” said Josephine Chung, a former president of the Organization of Chinese Americans, New York chapter.

“They’ve done a lot of good for the community,” Chung said, praising Josephine Lin for her work as a vital go-between for Asian community leaders and local politicians. “Just recently, I ran into her on the street in Chinatown and we were discussing how to get more computers for local public schools in Chinatown.”

Chung said the couple was born in Shanghai, and later immigrated to Taiwan. In the ’70s, they immigrated to the United States. They had three children, one son and two daughters.

Records show that the Lins, who were both registered Republicans, donated more than $44,000 last year to GOP candidates for public office, including $25,000 to NY Governor George Pataki. The couple also made smaller donations to local Democratic candidates.

Justin Yu, a reporter for the Chinese-language daily, The World Journal and a longtime friend of the Lins, said he was upset by both the murders and the reports that they were shaking down fellow immigrants.

“They were honest, decent, trustworthy and very kind,” said Yu. “I don’t believe a thing that’s been said — it’s beyond the wildest imagination.”

Other community members were not so sure. Sources in the community noted that it is common practice in New York’s Chinatowns for private landlords to demand under-the-table “key money” bribes as high as $20,000 from immigrant tenants before agreeing to rent to them.

“It’s a big underground business,” said one source.

Police said they are searching for three Asian men who were seen in the couple’s Brooklyn apartment building on the day of the murders. The men were seen riding an elevator with Mrs. Lin and in other parts of the building. Police said the three are wanted for questioning and are not currently considered suspects. Police released sketches of the men.

MONEY SENSE

Two California Asian-targeted Banks Combine

In October 2002, UCNH Holdings, Inc. — the holding company of United Commercial Bank — completed its acquisition of the Bank of Canton of California. Both banks are aimed specifically towards Asian Pacific American clients, and now hope to cover even more ground.

Under the terms of the agreement, UCBH acquired all of the outstanding stock of the Bank of Canton, for a total of $220 million.

The Bank of Canton was established in 1937 to meet the financial needs of San Francisco’s Chinese community. The Bank prided itself on providing personalized services. Important initial services included the handling of foreign exchanges and remittances to China, maintaining personal savings accounts and providing loans to Chinatown residents and merchants. Recognizing the special relationship between Chinatown and the city of San Francisco, the Bank also committed itself to being an active and involved member of the larger citywide community.

United Commercial Bank opened its doors in 1974 in San Francisco’s densely Chinese American-populated Richmond District, and has evolved from a service-heavy bank to a commercial one.

“We have both served the Asian community for a long time,” said Eleanor Chang, marketing director for United Commercial. “It was a very good match.”

Thomas S. Wu, CEO of UCBH, agreed: “The acquisition substantially enhances our market share and competitive position within the ethnic Chinese communities in California. We will be better able to serve the customer base of the combined institutions.”

The banks together now have some 40 locations in California and tout $5 million in assets.

COMMERCIAL DISCRIMINATION

Fleet Bank Settles Sikh Bias Suit

Fleet Bank has settled a discrimination suit brought by a Sikh American businessman who was turned away when he tried to open a certificate of deposit.

New Jersey’s largest banking company reached the settlement Jan. 31, the same day it pledged to recognize the religious rights of Sikhs to wear turbans and beards.

Sikh leaders, who had threatened a boycott of the bank over the case, hailed the agreement.

“It is the first time any U.S. corporation has publicly stated it will accommodate Sikhs as full and equal employees and customers,” Manjit Singh, executive director of the Sikh Mediawatch and Resource Task Force, a Washington-based advocacy group, told the Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J.

The settlement stemmed from a religious discrimination suit filed by Inderjeet Singh Chowdhary, 45, who claimed employees at the bank’s Carteret, N.J. branch refused to let him open a $250,000 certificate of deposit and asked him to leave.

Chowdhary, an American citizen and a former merchant marine captain, will be paid an undisclosed sum under the confidential settlement, said his lawyer, Ravinder S. Bhalla.

“If Fleet Bank, one of the largest financial institutions in the country, recognizes the right of Sikhs to maintain their faith and retain their employment and their status, then why shouldn’t others?” Bhalla said.

There are an estimated 25,000 to 30,000 Sikhs in New Jersey and a half million nationwide.

Under its agreement with the advocacy group, Fleet will educate employees about Sikh Americans and develop products tailored to the state’s Sikh community.

Chowdhary said he was filling out the paperwork with a teller when Carteret branch Vice President Alicia Eagleston stopped the application process and called the teller to her desk, according to the suit.

When the teller returned, she told Chowdhary, without explanation, he was no longer allowed to open a certificate of deposit, the suit charged. Eagleston then escorted Chowdhary to the door and asked him to leave.

Fleet denies any discrimination took place against Chowdhary that day, according to Lubetkin. The spokesman added that the Carteret branch is a multiethnic workplace with a diverse employee base. Several Indian dialects, including Punjabi, are spoken there.