Love affair extortion case busted, former driver among culprits

A driver who used knowledge of his former employer's private life to extort 350,000 yuan (US$51,770) has been sentenced to 11 years in jail by the Jing'an District People's Court and fined 110,000 yuan, prosecutors in Jing'an District said Wednesday.

His accomplice, who helped him to send extortion messages to the boss, received four and a half years in jail and a fine of 40,000 yuan, prosecutors said.

According to prosecutors, the victim and his mistress received messages from people pretending to be underworld members on April 20, asking for 500,000 yuan to keep the love affair secret. The victim then transferred 30,000 yuan to the account the blackmailer gave him.

However, the victim received similar messages again the next day, demanding the remainder of the money. The victim then reported the case to police.

To provide police officers with more clues, the victim kept in contact with the blackmailer and found the person was very familiar with his private issues. Later he recalled that only a few employees who left his company, as well as his driver, knew he had a mistress. He gave that information to police.

Officers soon discovered that the cellphone used by the blackmailer had another number, which belonged to the victim's driver, surnamed Wan. Police also traced the cellphone's owner, a tobacco and wine trader surnamed Wang.

The pair were captured by police on May 8 with the involved cellphone, a bank card and some cash seized at the scene. Between April 20 and May 8, the victim transferred some 350,000 yuan to the blackmailer's account.

The accomplice, Wang, later confessed to police while the driver, Wan, kept silent. Wan made an appeal which was rejected by the Shanghai No.2 Intermediate People's Court.