Two Taiwanese suspects arrested by mainland police.

A Taiwan-born suspect who fled the island 16 years ago has been arrested by police in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, China News reported on September 7.

The suspect, identified by his surname Guo, is accused of fraud involving RMB 36 million and has been on the Fujian Police Department’s wanted list since 1998, said the city’s Gongbei police at a press briefing on September 6.

Guo was also listed on China’s “Hunting Fox 2014”, a police operation that targets suspects of white collar crime on the run overseas. Guo was arrested on August 30 in one of the city’s residential areas. In addition, a Macau-born suspect hiding in China was also arrested on the same day in the city, the report said.

On the back of improved cross-strait relations, a 2009 extradition treaty signed between the Mainland and Taiwan has been extremely effective at helping coordinate police raids, extradite criminals, combat fraud, drug-smuggling and counterfeit currency, reported AFP. Since the signing of the agreement, nearly 6,000 suspects have been arrested, including the infamous Chang An-lo, also known as the “white tiger”, a gang leader who was extradited to Taiwan in 2013.

As a result of the treaty, Taiwan’s fraud cases have dropped 54.3 percent from 38,802 cases worth NT$10.27 billion in 2009 to 17,744 cases worth NT$3,77 billion last year, the news agency said.

photos: CRNTT.com

Lili said she had found a person online who claimed to have official access to the answers on the math portion to the national university entrance exam. Lili admitted she was infatuated with this online person, and agreed to send him the requested RMB 4,000 payment.

Lili had memorized all the answers provided for her, but was completely shocked when she discovered while taking the test that none of the answers matched up. Lili didn’t tell anyone at first of her personal tragedy for fear of getting caught.

But Lili did eventually tell someone. Lili was interviewed by a police officer, and was also filmed on camera (as seen in the photo above).

Without the slightest betrayal of her own role as a cheater, Lili told the law enforcement official what she thought of the people who cheated her:

My future is now in doubt; this swindler is simply too heartless. Not only did he take my money, but he also destroyed my future.

And if there was any doubt at all to the moral of the story, Lili also said:

I sincerely hope that my younger classmates will be able to learn a lesson from my experience. Never, ever allow yourself to be tricked the way that I was and have your future taken away from you.

As brave as it was for Lili to come forward and serve as an example to others, the report did not mention the punishment Lili would face by confessing to a police officer that she had cheated on a national examination.

Photo: Shenzhen Evening Report via Weibo

That was the case for a 17 year-old Guangzhou girl named Lili (a pseudonym). She answered an online ad in August 2012 to meet Li Jun, a 27 year-old Hunan man, who promised he could introduce her to men interested in taking her as a mistress in exchange for money.

However, before Li was able to introduce her to any potential “sugar daddies”, he first asked Lili to pay an RMB 5,000 “honesty fee” upfront.

Trusting Li, Lili dutifully transferred the money. Li then threatened to expose Lili for being involved in this conspiracy. With Li Jun holding it over her, he raped Lili and used that to further blackmail her.

When the victim’s distraught family found out about the crime, they reported Li to the police, who arrested him and charged him with fraud and rape. He was later convincted and has been sentenced to 10 and a half years in prison.

The moral of the story? Even mistresses can be swindled… sometimes.

Photo: Weibo

Chill’s Bar (Photo from ThatsPRD)

Staff at Chill’s Bar in Shekou are recovering from having tens of thousands of yuan stolen from them by an American who fled the city last month, according to Shenzhen Daily. Real English, a nearby language training centre, was also a victim of the theft that has caused outrage across Shekou.

The bar on Haichang Street lost tens of thousands of yuan that was allegedly taken by the American who had opened Chill’s with partners last spring, just before opening Real English.

The paper reports:

“He took everything — even the staff’s tips,” said Danish businessman Kent Kristensen, a regular at Chill’s who said a friend of the American’s loaned him 20,000 yuan (US$3,211) the day before he disappeared.

The vanished American allegedly left unpaid bills, paychecks and debts at both businesses, while taking advance tuition payments from parents of students at Real English, which was forced to close.

People who knew the alleged thief, who is unidentified because police reports and actions have not been confirmed, said he emptied the bar’s cash register on his way out the door and even grabbed loans from friends before jetting, saying he needed help with renovations or family issues.

“I gave him a personal loan of 30,000 yuan,” said a baker in the neighborhood. “He said he was going to expand the business. I gave him the money on Saturday and he left on Sunday.”

The remaining staff at the bar are selling T-shirts with the American’s face on it in order to raise money to pay the bills, and pay back creditors.

Chill’s Bar used to be known as Burt’s, and has become a popular hot dog and hamburger hangout in the Shekou area.  Hopefully this guy is found, and people get their money back.

According to the Shenzhen Daily, a woman identified as Chen has fallen for such a scam.

In September last year, Chen met a man named Zhang online. Zhang is a middle-aged man who claimed to be divorced with an annual income of RMB300 thousand, multiple properties, and a genuine willingness to remarry. After seeing Zhang’s identification, divorce certificate, and property ownership certificates, Chen started a romantic relationship with him. They had sexual intercourse numerous times, according to Chen, who said she only started to question the credibility of Zhang’s story when she realized that she was carrying most of the financial weight in the relationship. That’s when she called police.

Zhang was arrested in a hotel in Bao’an District, Shenzhen in January this year. When police arrived, they found all of his forged certificates, including two false I.D. cards, one divorce certificate and two property ownership certificates.

During the investigation, police found that Zhang cheated another female victim for sex last year.