Coral Springs Exec Back Home After Being Held Captive in Beijing

Coral Springs businessman Chip Starnes is back home after six days of captivity in Beijing, but it took roughly half a million dollars to buy his freedom.

Starnes arrived early Friday morning at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. He said he paid about 500 to 600 thousand dollars in legal fees and leverage to the employees that held him captive at his Specialty Medical Supplies factory amid allegations of unpaid wages.

"Put in a situation that you have no control of and surrounded by a hundred fifty people, 200 people that have full access to you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week -- ransacking your office, complete intimidation tactics and just feeling helpless -- I've never honestly been in a situation like this in my whole life," Starnes said.

He said he had been trapped in his office for almost a week before he was able to negotiate his release. He said it all unfolded when his company was laying off about 30 workers and giving them severance packages. The rest of the employees, about a hundred of them, thought the entire company was shutting down and wanted the same benefits for themselves.

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Starnes said there were a couple of times that he feared for his life while he was in captivity.

"The first 48 hours was extremely tough because of the stringent intimidation things that they were doing to me," he said.

And according to Starnes, the U.S. Embassy wasn't able to do much for him. He had to reach out to his business partners and attorney for help.

The company, which has downsized from 600 to 100 employees, began five years ago in China and there are plans to move part of its operations to India. Despite the recent hardship, Starnes said he plans to continue doing business in China for the time being.

"Our equipment is there, who we are is still there," he said.

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