Ex-boyfriend's loan repayment delayed; after reporting to the police, it turned out to be someone else.
Compiled from The Paper
An ex-boyfriend borrowed over three million yuan from a woman in Shanghai but kept delaying repayment; upon investigation, his identity turned out to be someone else. Recently, Shanghai Pudong police arrested a suspect who used another person's identity to commit fraud.
Case review
In 2022, the Wanggang Police Station of the Pudong Public Security Sub-bureau received a report from a citizen, Ms. Wang, who stated that since June 2018, her ex-boyfriend, Yang, had borrowed money from her under various pretexts, including purchasing a house, buying a car, and handling traffic accidents. Out of consideration for their past relationship, Ms. Wang lent him over 3 million yuan in total over time. During this period, Yang repaid approximately 200,000 yuan, but the remaining loan was never returned. Yang also repeatedly refused Ms. Wang's requests to meet and discuss repayment matters, resulting in a total loss of 2.8 million yuan.
After receiving the report, the Wanggang Police Station immediately launched an investigation based on the identity information of Yang provided by Ms. Wang. They found that Yang's presence in Shanghai had been recorded only once in 2015, after which he seemed to vanish into thin air, leaving no trace and bringing the investigation to a standstill. Recently, based on new leads, the police discovered that Yang had appeared in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia.
After Yang was "caught," he stated that he had been working and living in Inner Mongolia all along, did not know Ms. Wang, and had never borrowed money from her. He had only visited Shanghai once in 2015 for tourism. The "Yang" who dated Ms. Wang and borrowed money from her must be someone else.
After the police spoke with Yang, his childhood friend Bi came under suspicion. Yang recalled that Bi had been listed by the local court as a judgment defaulter in 2013 and was subject to high-consumption restrictions. To evade these restrictions, Bi asked Yang to help him obtain a phone card and a bank card, and out of friendship, Yang agreed. Unexpectedly, Bi used Yang’s identity and personal information to defraud Ms. Wang. Following this lead, the police continued their investigation in Inner Mongolia and eventually apprehended Bi.
Currently, suspect Bi has been criminally detained by the Pudong police on suspicion of fraud.
"Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China"
Article 266 [Fraud Crime]
Whoever defrauds public or private property, if the amount is relatively large, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention, or public surveillance, and shall also, or shall only, be fined; if the amount is huge or there are other serious circumstances, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than ten years, and shall also be fined; if the amount is especially huge or there are other especially serious circumstances, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than ten years or life imprisonment, and shall also be fined or have property confiscated. Where this Law otherwise provides, such provisions shall prevail.
[1] The author's perspective
Nowadays in China, applying for bank cards and phone cards, as well as purchasing train and plane tickets, all require real-name verification using a national ID card. Combined with the continuous advancement of online information technology, the restrictive measures against these judgment debtors are quite comprehensive, leaving them with no choice but to “find another way out.” Some people, out of friendship, do them a favor, little knowing that they are actually landing themselves in trouble.
In this case, Yang, who was betrayed by his friend, thought he was just doing a favor for his childhood friend Bi. However, Bi used Yang's identity to defraud millions. If this case had not been exposed, Yang might have remained in the dark for much longer. This shows that an ID card is an important document for proving identity, and personal information must never be casually disclosed to others, or one will regret it when entangled in legal troubles.
