According to our news report, this may be the most anxious Chinese New Year that Mr. Li from Dongshantou Village in Pingxi Township of Shouning County has ever experienced. He was worried that he might be arrested by the public security authorities at any time because he was "suspected of running a casino."
Mr. Li said that he does business in Fuzhou and has never set up a gambling operation. However, his family kept receiving notices of detention and arrest from the Jinjiang Public Security Bureau. The notices stated: Mr. Li had been detained and arrested for being suspected of running a casino and was held in the Jinjiang Detention Center. In order to clear his name, Mr. Li went through great lengths to contact relevant parties. Finally, yesterday, the Jinjiang Public Security Bureau admitted to "making a mistake" and promised to correct the erroneous information.
While Mr. Li was doing business outside, his family received an arrest notice.
Mr. Li said that No. 15 Dongshantou Village in Pingxi Township of Shouning County is his hometown, where only his parents currently reside. He and his wife have already purchased property in Pingxi Township, while he usually conducts business in Fuzhou.
Mr. Li told reporters that last December, his family received the first notification. His parents, who are illiterate, did not pay much attention to it. However, after seeing the letter, Mr. Li's cousin quickly called him. It turned out that it was a detention notice sent by the Jinjiang Public Security Bureau. Mr. Li thought it might be a new type of scam and ignored it.
In January this year, another letter was received at his home, also from the Jinjiang Public Security Bureau. This time, Mr. Li asked his wife to go back to their hometown to retrieve the letter and take it to the local police station to find out what the matter was. The police station said that the letter might be genuine, but they could not handle the matter and advised Mr. Li to contact the Jinjiang Public Security Bureau.
The notice bore an official seal.
The recipient was greatly frightened, and yesterday the reporter saw those two notices.
Both notices were sent by registered mail.
The first one was a detention notice issued by the Jinjiang Public Security Bureau of Fujian Province, addressed to Lin Juhua. Part of the content read, "Our bureau has criminally detained Mr. Li on suspicion of running a casino at 16:00 on November 21, 2009. He is currently detained in the Jinjiang Detention Center of Fujian Province." The Jinjiang Public Security Bureau's seal was affixed at the bottom.
The second one was an arrest notice issued by the Jinjiang Public Security Bureau of Fujian Province, also addressed to Lin Juhua. Part of the content read, "Mr. Li was arrested by our bureau on suspicion of running a casino at 18:00 on December 18, 2009. He is currently detained in the Jinjiang Detention Center of Fujian Province." The Jinjiang Public Security Bureau's seal was affixed at the bottom.
When Mr. Li called the Fourth Team of the Public Security Brigade of the Jinjiang Public Security Bureau, the officer who answered the phone was surprised to hear that the person on the other end of the line was the suspect who had been arrested. The officer asked Mr. Li to come to Jinjiang himself. What scared Mr. Li was that the officer from the Jinjiang Public Security Bureau said there might be a criminal record left in the archives.
Mr. Li said that the police later also contacted him, asking if he had lent his ID or other documents to others and whether he had siblings. Mr. Li truthfully answered all the questions. "Even though the arrest notice has already been issued, I am still confused. I am worried that I will really be arrested one day." Mr. Li felt very frustrated.
Reporters learned that according to relevant police data, the main case involving "Mr. Li" was as follows: In November 2009, he colluded with others to open a casino in a villager's home in Yangdi Village, Chenda Town, Jinjiang City, gathered people to gamble, and made a profit of more than 80,000 yuan. The location of arrest was Yangdi Village, Chanda Town, and the arresting unit was the Public Security Brigade of the Jinjiang Public Security Bureau, with the date of arrest being November 20, 2009.
The suspect fabricated a story, and the police admitted to mixing up identities.
Jinjiang police confirmed yesterday that the suspect arrested by the Public Security Brigade for being suspected of running a casino was from the same village as Mr. Li. The suspect falsely used Mr. Li's name when reporting his identity, and the other identity information provided by the suspect was very similar to Mr. Li's. Subsequently, the Jinjiang police mistakenly mixed up the identities and sent relevant legal documents to the "Mr. Li's" family based on the information provided by the suspect.
The Jinjiang police stated that they had indeed received feedback from Mr. Li's family, but they could not confirm its authenticity. They required Mr. Li to come to Jinjiang for investigation, which was refused by Mr. Li. The police told reporters that the names in the legal documents sent to the suspect's family or unit according to procedure have already been corrected; and the case materials of Mr. Li in the police records will also be gradually corrected. After the reporter's interview, the police have already contacted Mr. Li and apologized.
By Zhao Yang and intern Zhang Qing