More than 160 elderly people in the "collection" routine were defrauded of 27.01 million
□ Our reporter Rosasha
□ Xia Dan, correspondent of this newspaper
Lao Zhang in Henan likes to collect, and found an “Antique Appraisal Trading” collection company in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province through the Internet to identify the ancient coins he collected. Under the premeditated lure step by step, Lao Zhang paid tens of thousands of yuan for the appraisal. fee, but in the end it came to nothing.
In May 2020, the People's Procuratorate of Wujin District, Changzhou City initiated a public prosecution, and the "collection of treasures" gang headed by Xu Mouqiao, Bao Moukang and others were sentenced for fraud.
In June 2022, the case was selected as a typical case of the Supreme People's Procuratorate's crackdown on pension fraud crimes.
Online Encounter Jianbao Professional Team
"Your collection is old and worth at least 1 million yuan. It is recommended that you bring the collection to our company in person to make a more comprehensive and professional appraisal." Just after Lao Zhang contacted the Changzhou company, according to the "expert" It is suggested that Lao Zhang flew to Changzhou from Henan with ancient coins in March 2018.
Here, Lao Zhang's ancient coins were identified as cultural relics, and the company found a buyer for him. Lao Zhang also bought the company's collections on the recommendation of the company's salesman.
After negotiation, the two parties decided to conduct the transaction at a price of 1 million yuan.
At this time, the buyer proposed that Lao Zhang should provide the official identification results of the collection from the authoritative department.
Later, under the introduction of the company's salesman, Lao Zhang received a sealed file bag after paying an appraisal fee of 10,000 yuan in an information ownership registration center.
The staff of the center suggested that in order to ensure the authenticity and authority of the appraisal, Lao Zhang was advised to return to the company and then open the package for inspection.
This explanation made Lao Zhang feel that this appraisal center is very caring and formal, and he has more trust in his heart.
According to the appraisal report, all the ancient coins of Lao Zhang are provincial-level cultural relics, and private transactions are not allowed according to national laws.
This result made Lao Zhang both happy and worried. Seeing that 1 million yuan was about to be lost, Lao Zhang was very anxious for a while.
At this time, the company's staff suggested that Lao Zhang could conduct the transaction through auction, and said that there will be an event in Hong Kong in late June, and Lao Zhang can be invited to participate for free.
Lao Zhang, who finally felt relieved, signed a guarantee contract with the company and immediately returned to Henan.
This trip, Lao Zhang spent 100,000 yuan before and after.
Setting up a company to streamline fraud
As soon as Lao Zhang left, the buyer "fancy" another seller's collection. It was also a high-priced acquisition, and a series of the same procedures were also required.
"Actually, the salespersons, buyers, experts and appraisers of the company that Lao Zhang met before were all liars. Before meeting Lao Zhang, they were in the same WeChat group, and they discussed the appraisal price and appraisal results of the collection. Waiting for sellers like Lao Zhang to set up." Chen Bin, the undertaker prosecutor, introduced.
After signing the "Auction on behalf of" contract, Lao Zhang never received a call from the "collection company" again, and he had to report the case to the Wujin police after waiting for no result.
At the same time as Lao Zhang reported the case, several police stations in Wujin District received a number of reports about disputes over treasures and collections. After investigation, the police found that this was not a simple economic dispute, so they followed the clues. After several months, Wujin police arrested the case. Out of a "collection" fraud gang.
After investigation, from November 2014 to December 2018, Xu Mouqiao registered and established several chain companies such as Han Mou Cultural Exchange Co., Ltd. and recruited Bao Moukang and other employees to form a fraud crime group.
"The gang tricked the elderly into paying high appraisal fees and auction agency fees by means of 'valuing treasures' and auctions." Chen Bin said that they also bought handicrafts, calligraphy and paintings from the wholesale market and packaged them into so-called "collections". Telephone invitations, handing out flyers, giving small gifts, etc., lure the elderly who lack professional knowledge of collectibles to buy, and falsely claim that "collections" have room for appreciation several times to dozens of times.
In order to dispel the concern of the elderly that they would not be able to sell the "collection" after purchasing, Xu Mouqiao and others lied that they could auction or sell it on their behalf after the appreciation, and even said that the company could buy it back.
According to Xu Mouqiao's account, they also created fake auction and sales records, as well as buyer's buying information, etc., to dispel buyers' concerns.
At the same time, some collections are also fabricated because they belong to the "Belt and Road" policy to encourage purchases to enjoy financial subsidies and other information, so that the elderly mistakenly believe that the purchased "collections" are worth the money.
According to statistics, as of the incident, Xu Mouqiao and others defrauded the group of more than 27.01 million yuan from more than 160 elderly people. , daily consumption and purchase of real estate and vehicles.
Collectibles identification "unfamiliar do not do"
On November 1, 2019, the Wujin District Procuratorate prosecuted Xu Mouqiao and other 17 people on suspicion of fraud.
On May 28, 2020, the Wujin District Court sentenced 17 people including Xu Mouqiao and Bao Moukang to fixed-term imprisonment ranging from one year and nine months to 14 years, and fined them for fraud.
After the first-instance judgment was pronounced, Xu Mouqiao and Bao Moukang appealed.
On August 8, 2020, the Changzhou Intermediate People's Court ruled to dismiss the appeal and upheld the original judgment.
The case-handling organ has sealed up, seized, and frozen the defendant's deposits, real estate, cars and other properties involved in the case in accordance with the law, and the asset disposal work is in progress.
Since 2020, the Wujin District Procuratorate has reviewed and prosecuted 6 criminal cases involving elderly care fraud, involving art for the elderly and health products and medicines, all of which are gang crimes, with more than 2,100 victims.
According to Chen Bin, in cases of fraudulent collectibles targeting the elderly, criminals usually use two methods to commit crimes. One is to defraud the elderly for appraisal fees and service fees through gimmicks such as "buyers seeking purchases" and "high-priced auctions". The other is to package cheap handicrafts, calligraphy and paintings into collections with "dozens of times of appreciation space", and make promises such as "high-priced acquisitions" and "guaranteed auctions" to lure the elderly into buying high-priced products and pay high service fees and membership fees. fee etc.
"Sometimes the first method is used to attract the elderly to the company by auctioning the objects in the hands of the elderly at high prices, and then brainwashing the elderly with words to trick them into buying so-called collections at high prices." Chen Bin said that investment in collectibles Involving professional field knowledge, it is often more difficult for the elderly to identify, so we must remember that "don't do it if you are not familiar with it".
The prosecutor hereby reminds that some fraudulent gangs currently use cultural media companies as a cover to conduct cultural relic identification fraud, and attract collectors to take the bait on the grounds of high-priced acquisitions and guaranteed auctions.
If the elderly want to appraise or auction their collections, they must identify qualified institutions. The formal cultural relic appraisal agencies charge relatively low (or no) fees for cultural relic appraisal. In principle, they only identify the age, not the cultural relics. It is carried out by two or more appraisers with appraisal qualifications, and the relevant professional certificates can be found on the website of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.
Before paying any fees, ask your relatives and children for advice, and don’t trust strangers’ promises of high-priced appraisal, repurchase, and sales. If you find yourself deceived, you should call the police in time.