China News Service, Ningbo, November 19th (reported by He Jiangyong, communicated by Li Yishan and Chen Ying) A man from Yinzhou District in Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province, who was heavily indebted due to gambling, decided to target banks. He applied for credit cards from multiple banks and maliciously overdrawn them by making purchases and cash withdrawals. Later, he forged identification cards using other people's ID information and applied for more credit cards, continuing the malicious overdrafts. On November 19th, the Haishu People's Court of Ningbo publicly tried this case of credit card fraud.
Ruan, a 35-year-old native of Yinzhou, Ningbo, had been sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment for theft in January 2005. From August 2006 to December, due to debts incurred from gambling, he applied for eight credit cards from banks such as China Merchants Bank, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, Minsheng Bank, CITIC Bank, Ningbo Bank, and Everbright Bank. He then maliciously overdrawn nearly 76,000 yuan through consumption and cash withdrawals. After repaying 36,770 yuan, despite repeated bank reminders, he still owed nearly 40,000 yuan.
In December 2007, while helping Cai apply for a salary card, Ruan copied Cai’s ID card. He then obtained a fake ID card with his own photo but Cai's other information. Using this fake ID, he impersonated Cai and defrauded five credit cards from banks like Bank of Communications, Everbright Bank, China Merchants Bank, and Minsheng Bank. He continued to maliciously overdraw more than 71,400 yuan through consumption and cash withdrawals. After repaying 12,850 yuan, despite repeated bank reminders, he still owed nearly 58,600 yuan.
On June 29, 2009, defendant Ruan turned himself in, but the debt of nearly 100,000 yuan remains unpaid to this day.
After reviewing the case, the Haishu court determined that defendant Ruan maliciously overdrawn credit cards or used false identity proofs to defraud credit cards, engaging in credit card fraud activities involving large sums. His actions constituted credit card fraud. Moreover, since Ruan is a repeat offender, he should be punished more severely. Considering his voluntary surrender and willingness to plead guilty, the Haishu court ultimately sentenced Ruan to six years in prison, fined him 50,000 yuan, and continued to pursue the recovery of nearly 100,000 yuan in illegal gains. (End)