'Child-tracker' app company disowns Hong Kong-based trafficking suspect
German firm behind mobile app to suspend Hong Kong-based father of 15 babies as an investor
A German company behind a child-tracking mobile phone app has distanced itself from a Hong Kong-based human trafficking suspect wanted by the authorities in Thailand.
Fugitive Mitsutoki Shigeta was a start-up investor in Familonet, a Hamburg-based company that developed a mobile application to monitor the movement of children and family members in 2012.
In response to questions from the Sunday Morning Post, a spokesman for Familonet said they had "initiated precautionary actions to suspend him as an investor of the company, in case the accusations are confirmed". Shigeta has a 4 per cent stake in the company. The spokesman said they had no knowledge of Shigeta's professional or personal background.
Shigeta, who is thought to rent a home in Hong Kong's SoHo district, is wanted by Thai police for questioning after he was found to have fathered 15 children through 11 surrogate mothers in Bangkok.
The 24-year-old Japanese national fled the Thai city for Macau earlier this month. His current whereabouts are unknown.
Reports in the Thai media said alarm bells were set off a year ago when Shigeta told a Bangkok surrogacy centre that he wanted to father dozens of children every year.