I found the exact solution and syntax.. This is for the marbles trading demo and it checks for presence of both participant and the asset
/**
  * Trade a marble to a new player
  * @param {org.hyperledger_composer.marbles.TradeMarble} tradeMarble - the trade marble transaction
  * @transaction
  */
 function tradeMarble(tradeMarble) {
   return getParticipantRegistry('org.hyperledger_composer.marbles.Player')
     .then(function(playerRegistry) {
       return playerRegistry.exists(tradeMarble.newOwner.getIdentifier())
     })
      .then(function(exists) {
       if(!exists) {
         throw Error('Invalid participant id')
       } else {
        return getAssetRegistry('org.hyperledger_composer.marbles.Marble')
         .then(function (assetRegistry) {
          tradeMarble.marble.owner = tradeMarble.newOwner;
          return assetRegistry.update(tradeMarble.marble);
      });
       }
     })
 }