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The main culprit, Lu Zhike, is 34 years old and was an employee of the Beijing Guofa Guocai Cultural Exchange Center before the case occurred. According to the court investigation, he mainly used the name of the "China Social Investigation Institute," which had not been legally registered by relevant national departments, to set up this scam. In March or April 2009, a first-year Japanese female graduate student at Communication University of China fell to her death. Lu Zhike then approached the director of the institute, surnamed Li, to discuss conducting project evaluations, commendations, and other activities under the name of the China Social Investigation Institute, with a validity period of one year. The institute would collect an annual management fee of 160,000 yuan.
Director Li of the institute stated that in reality, the institute had no formal organizational structure and since 1988 had been affiliated with various units such as the Chinese Talent Research Association, the Ministry of Personnel, and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security. However, none of its work had been approved by any competent authority.
Victim selection from the internet or books
The court found that after obtaining their "identity," Lu Zhike and others gained victims' related information through online searches and other means. They contacted the victims via telephone and sent them false promotional materials, introducing them to fictitious evaluation activities under the name of the "China Social Investigation Institute." They then defrauded numerous victims of money under the guise of collecting review fees.
Report by Xinhua News Agency (Reporter Zhang Yuan): "Most Investment-Valuable Project of 2009", "National Sinology Experts", "Outstanding Art Figures of 2009 in China", "Ten Outstanding Sons Who Moved China"... Five fraudsters fabricated these awards, claiming that paying money would secure the award, resulting in a total fraud of nearly 500,000 yuan from 109 people. Recently, the First Intermediate People's Court made a final verdict on this gang.
It was found that between May 2009 and April 2010, Lu Zhike conspired with Wang Zimin, Wang Gangjian, Xia Qingguo, Peng Xiaoyu, and others to defraud Wang Yammin and 108 others of 496,980 yuan using the aforementioned methods.
The court believed that Lu Zhike, Wang Zimin, Xia Qingguo, Wang Gangjian, and Peng Xiaoyu, with the intent of illegal possession, used fabricated facts to defraud numerous victims of their property, constituting the crime of fraud. As the ringleader, Lu Zhike was sentenced to nine years in prison, while the others received sentences ranging from two years to one year and nine months.
Wei Mou testified that he once contacted a victim who subsequently wired 3800 yuan, but he discovered that the unit did not seek out any professional departments or individuals for evaluation, "it was just about deceiving the customers' money."
Telephone operator Wei Mou stated that he saw a recruitment advertisement for the China Social Investigation Institute on a small ad and later became a salesperson under defendant Wang Zimin, whose job was to call artists found online.
Lu Zhike admitted that the target clients were selected from the internet or books like "Great Celebrities Dictionary." "These people often crave fame, are willing to obtain certificates, and they can believe in books like 'Great Celebrities Dictionary,' so they should also believe in this event," but those who are truly famous in society were not targeted because they would not pay for it.
Exploiting the name of an unlicensed investigation institute to defraud money