6 officers punished for inmate's fraud

Six police officers at Nehe Prison in Heilongjiang province were removed from their posts or received warnings after an investigation into an inmate who swindled money from women he video-chatted with using a cellphone, local news portal dbw.cn reported on Thursday.

Earlier media reports said Wang Dong maintained relationships with at least seven women after chatting with them through WeChat. At least three of the women chatted with him naked, and he forced them to visit him at the prison by threatening to make the recordings public, according to the report.

He swindled more than 110,000 yuan ($17,700) from the women.

Wang was put in prison for abduction and fraud last November, and he bribed a prison guard to bring in the smartphone for entertainment.

Under the guise of romantic love - and an investment project - he persuaded two women to transfer money to his account. A female victim working at the prison also wired him 80,000 yuan and never got the money back.

One victim, the wife of a police officer, fell in love with Wang after chatting with him several times, according to earlier media reports. A prison guard surnamed Liu, who accepted Wang's bribe, gave her the green light to visit Wang. Wang took screenshots while they chatted naked online and compelled her to have sex with him in the prison during her visit. After she refused to do this again, Wang posted the screenshots online and sent them to her friends. When her husband found out, he reported it to police, media reported earlier.

(China Daily 01/23/2015 page4)