Payback for crime victims

By Liang Yiwen  |   2009-1-21  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

CHANGNING District police returned goods worth more than 2 million yuan (US$292,360) to their owners yesterday.

They included 1.8 million yuan (US$263,124) in cash, a Buick car and jewelry all caught in the possession of suspects since October.

One case involved a man surnamed Cao who had paid 280,000 yuan into a bank account after receiving a phone message he thought was from his partner telling him to do so. But he soon found out he had been cheated and went to the police.

They went with Cao to the bank and found that his money had been sent to the account of a man named Zhang Weixing in Guizhou Province. Police had the bank account frozen and then, assisted by officers in Guizhou Province, found Zhang.

Zhang told them that his bank card and identity card had been stolen. He used a temporary card to withdraw the 280,000 yuan from his account after police explained the situation. They returned to Shanghai with Cao's money.