Money Changers Face Jail Terms |
http://www.sina.com.cn 2004/03/17 11:05 Shanghai Daily |
A court in Pudong New Area has begun hearing a theft case against two men who allegedly stole 1.6 million yen (US$14,400) from an elderly couple by turning their cash into a pile of useless paper. The two suspects, Li Dehu and Mu Chun, face a minimum of three years in prison if they are found guilty, according to the Pudong New Area Prosecutors' Office. On June 18 last year, a man surnamed Zhang, 73, and his wife went to a bank on Huadu Road in Pudong to deposit Japanese yen. They attracted the attention of Li and Mu, who were sitting in the corner of the bank at the time. When the elderly couple left the bank, Li, a native of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwestern China, offered to exchange their foreign currency for renminbi at a higher rate than normal, according to prosecutors. When Zhang asked if the men could exchange 1.6 million yen, Li assured him that would be no problem, prosecutors told the court. To further lure Zhang, Li pretended to be leaving as "he should make preparations for going abroad." Zhang drew 1.6 million yen out of the bank the next morning and called Li. Li asked Zhang to come to the Pudong International Airport as he "had to catch a flight" in a couple of hours. When Zhang arrived at the airport, he found Li and Mu waiting for him near a bank. After counting Zhang's money, Li gave the elderly man an empty envelope to put it in, police allege. He then quickly switched envelopes, handing Zhang one filled with strips of paper. Li and Mu then left on the pretext of drawing money out of the bank for Zhang, but never returned. After waiting for them for some time, Zhang opened the envelope only to find he had been cheated, prosecutors told the court. Zhang reported the loss to police immediately, but the pair weren't arrested until a vendor who witnessed the fraud spotted Mu at the bank on November 17. The pair have confessed to the crime, but say they spent all the money on drugs and entertainment, police said. No date has been set for a verdict to be announced. |
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