Taskforce arrests 22 in $186m fraud case
Police in Guangdong province have broken up a nationwide fraud ring accused of stealing more than 200 million yuan (HK$186 million).
Members of the ring, based in Guangzhou and Heyuan, are accused of forging bank drafts and money orders since 1998.
In co-ordinated raids launched on the eve of the National Day holiday, 300 officers from the Guangzhou Public Security Bureau (PSB), Heyuan PSB and Guangdong People's Armed Police arrested 22 suspects, Guangzhou newspapers reported yesterday. Fake bank drafts and bank stamps were seized.
Members of the ring allegedly defrauded banks in 22 provinces and cities, operating as far afield as Liaoning, Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia and Gansu.
They would withdraw money from local banks on the strength of drafts and money orders apparently issued by financial institutions in Heyuan and other cities in Guangdong.
By the time the swindled banks discovered that the drafts and money orders were counterfeit, the ring members had already skipped town with the cash.
One suspect was caught with withdrawal slips worth more than 20 million yuan.
In July, a preliminary investigation by the Guangdong PSB's Economic Crimes Unit traced some members of the ring to Heyuan.
The next month a taskforce - involving investigators from Guangdong, Beijing and six other provinces and municipalities - was established to crack the ring.
The taskforce's investigation culminated with the raids earlier this week in Guangzhou and Heyuan.
Those arrested included employees of financial institutions and posts and telecommunications offices. Only four were identified in official press reports. They are Heyuan natives Zhang Jianqing, Guan Jiaxin, Huang Zhiwen and Zhang Ruiqing.
