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CNBC AI News, July 22nd – Justice has been served in a peculiar case of culinary con artistry. A man in Shiyan City, Hubei Province, China, has been sentenced for repeatedly attempting to extort restaurants by claiming to find ants in his meals. The Maojian District People’s Court delivered the verdict following a series of calculated scams that spanned two years.
Rong, the defendant, was found guilty of extortion and sentenced to five years in prison, along with a fine of 50,000 RMB (approximately $7,000 USD). He was also ordered to return the 71,000 RMB (approximately $10,000 USD) he illegally obtained to his victims.
The Scheme Unravelled:
Rong, unemployed since 2019, stumbled upon his scheme in the first half of 2022. After finding a foreign object in his food at a restaurant, the establishment offered him 1,000 RMB as compensation.
Inspired by this apparently easy payday, Rong decided to amplify the scam, procuring black ants and other “ingredients” to plant in his meals.
Over the next two years, Rong targeted establishments across the country, focusing on locations such as airport terminals, high-speed railway stations, train stations, large shopping malls, and upscale dining establishments.
His modus operandi involved discreetly adding the ants to his food, photographing the “evidence,” and then swiftly departing. He would then leverage the restaurants’ fear of negative publicity and potential regulatory action to demand compensation, often requesting ten times the cost of his meal.
Court records revealed that from May 2023, Rong received numerous Alipay transfers from businesses labeled as “compensation,” “settlement,” or “foreign object compensation.” These payments occurred as frequently as every two hours, and at most, within a two-week period. The court noted that Rong’s actions had a seriously adverse impact on public perception.
The Verdict:
The court determined that Rong, driven by the intent to illegally enrich himself, exploited the businesses’ vulnerability to negative customer reviews and potential damage to their reputation. By deliberately contaminating their products, he forced them into paying him off. The court found that he had extorted a total of 71,661 RMB through 283 separate instances, classifying the amount as substantial.
Based on Article 274, Article 64, Article 52, and Article 53, Section 1 of the Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China, Rong was convicted of extortion and sentenced to five years in prison. He was also ordered to return the illegally obtained funds to his victims.
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Original article, Author: Tobias. If you wish to reprint this article, please indicate the source:https://aicnbc.com/5347.html
