‘Fake general and colonel’ arrested as Chinese authorities target scammers posing as members of army
Pair accused of trying to con millions of US dollars out of members of the public by offering to sell them senior military ranks
China’s army and police have arrested two people accused of pretending to be senior officers to extort money from members of the public, state media reported.
The arrests in Beijing were the latest in a crackdown that began in July on impostors masquerading as members of the People’s Liberation Army.
A man, who posed as a general, and a woman, who pretended to be a senior colonel, had claimed that they could make a person a colonel as long as they donated 15 million yuan (US$2.3 million) to a special fund called “Royal Soldier”, China Central Television reported last week.
The man, using a pseudonym and claiming to be the fund’s secretary general, was reported to have confessed that the pair had started the scam at the start of last year.
It was not known whether they had succeeded in getting any money this way.
Authorities also found more than 10 boxes of counterfeit uniforms and regalia at their home, the report said.