Man 'posed as kidnap victim to extort family'
By Saladin Xu |
August 15, 2011, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A 21-YEAR-OLD man is alleged to have worked with a gang to convince his own family he had been kidnapped and was being held to ransom.
The gang, in Shanxi Province, is said to have sent the family pictures in which the man, surnamed Li from Hunan Province, playacted being held captive and having his fingers cut off by gang members.
Li's aim was said to be the extortion from his family of a 10,000 yuan (US$1,550) ransom with which he could join the gang's illegal pyramid scheme, said Shanxi police.
Li is alleged to have used red ink and a specially-made kitchen knife to embellish his act in front of the camera as he pretended to be in great pain while his fingers were being cut off by gang members and "blood" flowed over his hand, police said.
Li's brother, Beijing resident Sun Jianhua, put the picture online and appealed to people to help rescue the man.
In the picture, Li is held down by two men apparently cutting at his fingers with a kitchen knife - one of his thumbs appears already to have been severed.
The picture spread like wildfire around the Internet and members of the public called on Shanxi police to act.
Several hours after the picture was put online, police announced on their official microblog that they had rescued Li and detained 12 gang members.
Police said they were surprised, however, to find that all Li's fingers were intact, and they said he subsequently admitted the whole thing was a sham designed to extort money from his family.
His brother Sun claimed Li was "brainwashed" by the gang, and even now he continued to believe the gang's scheme could make him rich if only he could join them.
The case is still under investigation.
The gang, in Shanxi Province, is said to have sent the family pictures in which the man, surnamed Li from Hunan Province, playacted being held captive and having his fingers cut off by gang members.
Li's aim was said to be the extortion from his family of a 10,000 yuan (US$1,550) ransom with which he could join the gang's illegal pyramid scheme, said Shanxi police.
Li is alleged to have used red ink and a specially-made kitchen knife to embellish his act in front of the camera as he pretended to be in great pain while his fingers were being cut off by gang members and "blood" flowed over his hand, police said.
Li's brother, Beijing resident Sun Jianhua, put the picture online and appealed to people to help rescue the man.
In the picture, Li is held down by two men apparently cutting at his fingers with a kitchen knife - one of his thumbs appears already to have been severed.
The picture spread like wildfire around the Internet and members of the public called on Shanxi police to act.
Several hours after the picture was put online, police announced on their official microblog that they had rescued Li and detained 12 gang members.
Police said they were surprised, however, to find that all Li's fingers were intact, and they said he subsequently admitted the whole thing was a sham designed to extort money from his family.
His brother Sun claimed Li was "brainwashed" by the gang, and even now he continued to believe the gang's scheme could make him rich if only he could join them.
The case is still under investigation.
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