Woman found guilty of extorting ex-lover

A 30-year-old married woman who tried to extort 20,000 yuan (US$3,000) from her 72-year-old ex-lover was sentenced to nine months in jail and fined 8,000 yuan (US$1,191), prosecutors in Qingpu District said on Wednesday.

The woman, surnamed Luo, pressured her intended victim, surnamed Zhang, for money after their relationship ended. Luo threatened Zhang by saying that her husband would make a scene at Zhang's company. Luo also threatened to share nude photos of them which she captured on her cellphone.

A man surnamed Peng, who acted as Luo's accomplice in the attempted extortion, also got one year behind bars and a 10,000 yuan fine for his role in the incident.

According to the Qingpu District People's Procuratorate, Zhang first contacted Luo using WeChat's random friend search function in 2017. At that time, Zhang asked Luo to have sex with him, but she refused. Last year, however, Luo agreed to have sex with Zhang in order to get a job at the insurance firm where he works. 

During later sexual encounters, Luo took nude photos of herself and Zhang. Eventually, when the sexual relationship ended, Luo decided to extort Peng for money.

Under pressure from Luo and Peng, Zhang at first promised to give her money but later reported the matter to police.

On April 13, after Zhang gave Luo 5,000 yuan, Luo and Peng were arrested by police who observed the transaction.