Nanjing Police have followed a 4,000-kilometre trail to Guizhou Province in tracking down and arresting a man who took advantage of the coronavirus situation to embezzle his employer of more than ¥19 million in various currencies.
It was on the evening of 10 February that the Jiangning Division of the Nanjing Public Security Bureau received word. A private enterprise in its jurisdiction was reporting that the millions had disappeared from its company accounts during the Spring Festival. As a result, the company was facing great difficulties in resuming its post-epidemic production.
During their preliminary investigation, police found that the company’s video surveillance system had been tampered with, and many recordings deleted. Information in the company’s electronic financial records had also been deleted, making difficult the investigation and collection of evidence.
Yet, the police did have a major clue. The company’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO), surnamed Suo, went missing after the incident. His office had been cleaned and personal effects removed.
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It also emerged that the named Suo was operating under a fake identity. The company’s CFO was in reality a Mr. Zhan, someone with considerable criminal experience. In 2012, Zhan had been sentenced to 7 years’ imprisonment in Chongqing for embezzlement.
Zhan then turned up at the company in Nanjing, having been recruited online. He had forged a higher education degree and other diploma certificates, fraudulently used Suo’s identity and joined the company in May of last year, reports The Paper.
Colleagues described Zhan as being diligent in his role as CFO. Yet, he had also been the one to suggest modifications for accessing the company’s bank accounts. As a result, he was able to obtain passwords and overcome other security measures.
Police arrest the suspect in Guiyang, Guizhou Province. Image courtesy Modern Express
Being a small-medium sized private enterprise, the loss directly affected the resumption of work and production in the wake of Covid-19, leaving the company bankrupt and burdened with debt.
Back on the perpetrator’s trail, Nanjing Police were led through Changsha in Hunan and Shenzhen in Guangdong to Guizhou Province. There, Zhan was traced to Guiyang City on 17 February.
For the following few days and nights, investigators squatted in the rain in wait, before successfully arresting Zhan near his rented accommodation.
Therein, they discovered the depth of Zhan’s cunning.
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Men’s wigs, women’s long-hair wigs and a large number of fake identity documents were found on the scene, and in carry-on luggage was located the stolen money, in US dollars, Hong Kong dollars, and Chinese yuan.
After interrogation, Zhan confessed.
It was then time to transport Zhan and the money back to Nanjing from Guizhou. In China, prisoners are often transported on regular-service, high-speed trains, in shackles, accompanied by plain-clothes police officers who shield the prisoner from other passengers.
However, on account of Covid-19, and in light of the quantity of money involved, the decision was taken to use a private car for the journey of 1,600 kilometres.
On the afternoon of 22 February, after a 26-hour journey, Zhan was placed in custody in Nanjing, while all 19 million has been recovered.
