Two gangs nailed for preying on borrowers
A victim in the Jiading case is forced by the suspects to sign an IOU.
Two gangs which allegedly defrauded and blackmailed borrowers have been caught, Shanghai police said on Monday.
In Qingpu District, police received a report in June last year from a man who claimed that his daughter was defrauded and the family was forced to give up their apartment.
The woman surnamed Xu and her husband first borrowed 500,000 yuan (US$72,200) from the gang in 2014 and 2015, and then their debt grew to be over 1.8 million yuan. Police said the gang made them sign IOU notes with threats.
In 2016, the couple and Xu’s father were forced to sign a blank real estate property sale agreement and the next year were driven out of their apartment.
Five suspects were caught in September last year, and the sixth was caught in Henan Province in May this year.
Apart from harassing and threatening debtors and their relatives with phone calls and messages, allegedly the suspects in some cases illegally detained people so as to force them to eventually give up their property.
More than 10 victims were defrauded over 5 million yuan, police said.
In Jiading District, five suspects of another gang have found themselves in front of the district prosecutors in a similar criminal scheme.
Police started their investigation in February this year after receiving a report from Wang, one of the victims.
In October last year, the gang forced Wang’s parents who live in Liaoning Province to pay off their son’s debt by selling their apartment, police said.
