Beijing, February 29 - The defendant, Mr. Gao, fabricated a story that he was an employee of China Telecom and used the excuse of selling consecutive-numbered mobile phone numbers and giving away phones with pre-deposited airtime to defraud over 80,000 yuan. The Tongzhou Court in Beijing sentenced the defendant, Mr. Gao, to one and a half years in prison, suspended for two years, and fined him 2,000 RMB for the crime of fraud.
After graduating from technical secondary school in the 1990s, Mr. Gao found a job online. During his one year at this job, under the direction of Mr. Jiang, he impersonated a China Telecom staff member to commit fraud.
In court, the defendant, Mr. Gao, appeared petite, wearing glasses with a quiet demeanor, making it hard to associate her with being a fraudster. Gao stated that initially, she did not know that the operation was fake, but later began to feel something was strange because all the consecutive-numbered mobile phone numbers being promoted were repeated. However, she continued working without much thought.
The defense submitted a health check report proving that the defendant, Mr. Gao, is pregnant, hoping the court would consider leniency due to her confession, remorse, and pregnancy condition.
The court held that the defendant, Mr. Gao, disregarded national law, with the intention of illegal possession, fabricated facts, concealed the truth, and colluded to defraud others' money. The amount approached a significant sum, and the crime was committed by making calls to an unspecified majority of people, constituting serious circumstances. His actions amounted to the crime of fraud and should be punished according to law. In the joint crime, the defendant, Mr. Gao, played a secondary and auxiliary role, confessed to his crimes upon apprehension, showed a good attitude of confession, and truly demonstrated remorse. According to the law, the punishment should be mitigated, and probation should apply.