Suspects held in plane tickets scam case
Suspects are pictured on their way to Shanghai from Henan Province.
Twelve suspects alleged to have been operating a plane tickets scam have been apprehended, Shanghai police said on Friday.
The suspects are said to have forged hospital diagnoses to claim refunds for flight tickets.
Police said they ran a flight service company in Henan Province that served as an agency for people to obtain refunds for plane tickets.
After claiming the refunds, the suspects gave their customers only part of the money and kept the rest, police said.
Police in the Pudong New Area began an investigation in June after an airline based in Zhuqiao Town reported refunds for sickness in 2019 were much higher than in previous years.
The submitted sickness reports were seemingly issued from different hospitals, but the handwriting was very similar, and some documents had consecutive numbers, police said.
After investigating bank records, police located suspects in Henan, led by a married couple Yang and Xi.
The suspects are alleged to have made over 8,000 false sickness claims for plane ticket refunds of over 2 million yuan (US$304,000).
Five of the suspects have been arrested, police said.
