Suspected swindlers caught after US$1.4m fraud

By Yang Lifei  |   2008-12-12  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

THREE members of a suspected fraud ring were arrested for allegedly cheating a victim out of 9.9 million yuan (US$1.4 million), Fengxian District police said yesterday.

Investigators recovered 8.17 million yuan. The remaining 1.73 million yuan was spent by the suspects, police said.

On August 12, a resident identified as Fang transferred 9.9 million yuan from his bank account to an account at a different lender. While he was waiting for bank staff to give him a receipt, Fang was told the money had already been transferred to a third account at a bank in Fengxian District.

Fang immediately alerted the police and was taken to the bank by Fengxian District economic crime investigators, but the money had been withdrawn by the time they arrived.

Fang told police he received a phone call in early July from a man who identified himself as Wang. The man claimed to work at a company called Pengquan. The suspect allegedly told the victim the company only had 100,000 yuan of capital, but that it was trying to increase the sum to 10 million yuan in order to win a project bid.

"He promised if I could lend him 9.9 million yuan and keep the money in the company's account for one or two days, I would make 40,000 yuan in interest," Fang told police. "In order to make me feel comfortable with the arrangement, they showed me the company's business license, the stamp of the legal representative and the company finance seal."

Once Fang transferred the money to the suspects' account, it was removed via an online bank account. Police then discovered the money was withdrawn by a middle-aged man at three banks.

Officers went to Pengquan Company's offices and found some telephone numbers written on a calendar beside a computer.

One of the telephone numbers was from an airline booking company, whose ticket reservation information helped police locate a suspect called Li Wei. Li was caught at his home in Heilongjiang Province.