Fraud gang jailed

Five members of a fraud gang were sentenced to up to 12 years forcing a man who borrowed 100,000 yuan (US$14,000) from them to sign a contract for 1 million yuan and leave his house as pledge, Hongkou District People's Court said on Monday.

The four chief culprits Mao, Liu, Xie and Wan were given 10 to 12 years in jail with fines ranging from 200,000 to 250,000 yuan. Their accomplice Li was jailed for eight years and fined 150,000 yuan.

In November 2015, the victim Yang was introduced to Mao's microfinance company by a friend. 

Mao promised Yang that their interest would be very low and Yang borrowed 100,000-yuan loan from him.

Mao and the other gang members forced Yang to sign a 1-million-yuan loan contract with his house as collateral. They also forged some bank transfer records as evidence of the loan.

In March 2016, another gang member Xie sold Yang's house for nearly 1.3 million yuan. Yang was informed about that his house had been sold when the buyer visited him.