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Pair pay twice for stealing trees

Two man paid twice for stealing two cinnamon trees from their tenant in Liuyang, Hunan province.

The pair, both surnamed Zhang, leased a piece of farmland to a man surnamed Ren, who planted cinnamon trees on it. They stole two of his trees in September. When they learned that Ren had called the police, they sought to negotiate a solution to the problem that would not involve the law.

Ren was willing to settle the matter unofficially and signed an agreement according to which he would receive 10,000 yuan ($1,500) for each tree.

The local court, nevertheless, proceeded with the case. The two were criminally tried for theft and were sentenced two years in prison with a two-year reprieve and a fine of 10,000 yuan.

Finding it unfair to receive such a harsh sentence after the case had already been privately resolved, they took Ren to court, asking for the return of their settlement. However, the court dismissed their case, saying they were bound to the agreement they had made.

(Xiaoxiang Morning Herald)

Subcontractor tries to put the squeeze on firm

A subcontractor was detained for attempting to blackmail money from a shipping company in Zhuzhou, Hunan province, by threatening to destroy 214 parcels that he had failed to deliver.

The subcontractor surnamed Xie began to work for the shipping company in July 2009. As a result of poor management and other distractions, he made a loss of 100,000 yuan ($15,000).

In an attempt to recoup the money, he contacted the company on Nov 22 and threatened to destroy 214 parcels that he had stashed away, unless he was paid 100,000 yuan.

The company contacted the police, who detained Xie on Nov 25. The hidden parcels were also recovered and delivered to their addressees.

The case remains under investigation.

(Xiaoxiang Morning Herald)

Fake antique pair held for fleecing villagers

A man and woman were detained for swindling 100,000 yuan ($15,000) from villagers in an antique scam in Zhongxiang, Hubei province.

The pair, who are middle aged and from the provinces of Henan and Hubei, posed as government surveyors who were instructed to install equipment for monitoring seismic activity.

They paid the villagers 10 yuan for every hole they dug. While a second hole was being excavated, they planted a fake golden turtle in a pile of dirt while no one was looking and claimed to have found a priceless antique.

They then conned the villagers into paying them more than 10,000 yuan each to arrange for antique dealers to sell any items that are uncovered.

Once they had the money, the two fled. One of their victims contacted the police on Oct 23 and the pair was captured on Nov 28 with 60,000 yuan in takings.

When the game was up, they confessed to the police that they had swindled more than 100,000 yuan out of villagers in seven scams they had pulled off since September.

The case remains under investigation.

(Hubei Daily)