Valuables lost to 'rich' renter

By Yang Lifei  |   2008-11-18  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

XUHUI District police have caught a man who allegedly defrauded six real estate agents out of personal valuables.

The 26-year-old suspect, surnamed Qi, disguised himself as a wealthy businessman and asked to rent the "most expensive" apartment in the district, officers said yesterday.

The Zhejiang Province native then allegedly pilfered the victims' cell phones and digital cameras when they were showing him the property, police said, without providing a dollar figure for valuables lost.

One victim surnamed Yao met Qi on October 31 when he asked to rent an apartment.

"He offered 15,000 yuan (US$2,197) a month, which was about 50 percent higher than the average price for such an apartment in the area," Yao told police. "I took him to three apartments, and when we reached the third one, he said he would sign a three-year contract if the landlord could equip the bedroom with an LCD TV."

The landlord agreed and Yao took him back to the company to sign the deal, police said.

On the way the man continued calling his younger sister on his cell phone and said she would like to look at the apartment.

"When we reached the company, he asked to borrow my cell phone because his battery was dead and his sister had not been given the address," the victim told police.

Yao lent him his iPhone worth about 4,800 yuan as Qi put his briefcase on a desk, police said.

However, the man took his cell phone outside to call his sister and never came back, according to authorities.