3 men detained over debt recovery plot
A man who hired two others to help him recover 200,000 yuan (US$28,904) has been sentenced to a five-month detention by Jinshan District People's Court.
His two accomplices have been sentenced to the same penalty for illegal detention.
Prosecutors said the man, surnamed Guo, saw an advertisement for a debt-recovery agency last year and got in touch since he had been owed 200,000 yuan for three years.
The agency sent two men, Zhang and Xu.
On December 17, Guo got a call from the pair saying they had found the debtor, Liu. Guo met them and Liu, who had just got off a flight at Pudong International Airport. Liu was taken to their car by force and paid Guo 10,000 yuan after being threatened.
The men then drove Liu to a hotel and shut him in a room. They took Liu's phone from him so he couldn't call for help.
Two days later, Liu asked to use the phone so he could arrange to borrow the money but secretly sent a message to his wife for help. Liu's wife called the police.
