Police warned Beijing citizens on Monday to be on the alert for
foreigners who use local peoples' kind hearts as a means of
swindling money.
Last week, police in northeast Beijing's Chaoyang District
arrested 15 expatriates who were suspected of illegally taking more
than 200,000 yuan (US$24,000) over the past six months.
The Chaoyang District Public Security Bureau received several
reports in June that a group of foreigners had conned citizens out
of large sums of money.
One victim, a cigarette salesman surnamed Wang who does business
in a market near Chaoyang District, said that several foreigners in
decent clothes approached him one day recently.
The foreigners took out a 100 yuan (US$12) banknote to purchase
a package of cigarettes from him, and pretended to seek change in
his suitcase on their own. While the unsuspecting Wang tended other
customers, the group stole 3,000 yuan (US$360) from the
suitcase.
Investigation revealed that con artists such as these often set
out in groups of three to five, drive rental cars and cover the
car's license plates with paper. As they pretend to purchase an
item or look for change, they snatch money. Police report that they
have even stolen money from poverty-stricken garbage
collectors.
More than 60 officers were assigned to the task force at the
beginning of the month. They arrested 15 suspects in a residential
community in Shunyi District, on the city's outskirts. The suspects
range in age from 19 to more than 40, and come from four different
countries.
In Chaoyang alone, they are alleged to have collected 110,000
yuan (US$13,000) in 30 individual incidents.
Police refused to disclose the nationalities of the suspects.
They are continuing the investigation.
Xinhua News Agency reports that there are more than 40,000
foreigners living in the capital for extended periods. Some of the
unscrupulous among them are increasingly taking advantage of
Beijing citizens' kindness to commit crimes, Xinhua says.
In May, for example, police in Shanghai arrested three people
from South America for involvement in three diamond thefts. Kong
Xianming, deputy director of the Shanghai Public Security Bureau,
was quoted as saying that it is normal for the city -- an open
international metropolis -- to contain a foreign criminal
element.
Police said Chaoyang District, where some 140 embassies, 3,000
foreign companies and 100 star-rated hotels are located, has become
a target of foreign criminals. In addition, many Chinese people are
easily taken in as they regard all foreigners as rich and well
behaved.
(China Daily July 20, 2004)