A gang of 37 people set up a treasure scam： experts, buyers and appraisers are all liars.

"I want to call the police. This company charged me more than 10,000 yuan for antique appraisal. Now that things have not been sold, the appraisal fee will not be refunded!"

In March of this year, several police stations in Wujin District, Changzhou City, Jiangsu Province frequently received reports from the masses about Jianbao disputes. After coordination, the police found that these disputes involved two companies-Changzhou Baode Culture and Art Company and Tangyu Information Ownership Registration Center. The police followed the trail and immediately launched an investigation. After two months, a 37-person "Jianbao" fraud gang was found.

A few days ago, the Wujin District Procuratorate of Changzhou City, Jiangsu Province made a decision to approve the arrest of 35 suspects, including Wang, Zhou, Qi and Lu, on suspicion of fraud. Two people were not arrested because of insufficient evidence.

Routine too deep

Experts, buyers and appraisers are all liars.

In March this year, Mr. Zhang from Henan found a collection company named Changzhou Baode Culture and Art Company on the search website. After contacting the "expert", he took photos of his collection of ancient coins and sent them to the other party.

"This collection of yours has been around for a long time, with a value of at least 1 million yuan. I suggest you come to our company personally with the collection to make a more comprehensive and professional appraisal."

The next day, Mr. Zhang received a phone call from an "expert". Hearing that the value of ancient coins was so high, Mr. Zhang was very moved and flew to Changzhou to find the company.

Here, Mr. Zhang’s ancient coins were affirmed by experts and soon found a buyer. After negotiation, the two sides decided to trade at a price of 1 million yuan. At this time, the buyer suggested that the need for Mr. Zhang to provide the ownership certificate means that the authoritative department is required to identify and record the collection. Subsequently, under the introduction of the company’s salesman, Mr. Zhang came to the Tangyu Information Ownership Registration Center and paid an appraisal fee of 10,000 yuan. He got a sealed portfolio. The staff of the registration center said that in order to ensure the fairness of the appraisal, Mr. Zhang was advised to go back to Baode Company and unpack the file cover. The staff’s explanation made Mr. Zhang feel very formal, so he added a little trust to this appraisal. The final appraisal result made him somewhat happy and somewhat worried. It turns out that the appraisal report shows that ancient coins are provincial-level cultural relics and are not allowed to be traded privately according to national laws. Seeing that the 1 million in hand is going to be squandered, Mr. Zhang naturally refuses to give up. At this point, the salesman of the company proposed a solution. He suggested that Mr. Zhang trade the collection through auction, and said that the auction would be held in late June, when he would be invited to Hong Kong for free. Mr. Zhang agreed, signed a contract with Baode Company to guarantee the auction, and then returned to Henan.

However, what Mr. Zhang didn’t know was that he had just left, and the "buyer" who traded with him "took a fancy" to another seller’s collection. The same high-priced acquisition, and requires identification. On the way of the next "seller" to the registration center, the company’s salesmen, buyers, experts and appraisers have already gathered in a WeChat group to discuss the appraisal price and appraisal results of the collection, just waiting for the last step-the seller is on the set.

company incorporated

Crazy crime forms a gang of more than 30 people.

After preliminary investigation, in November 2017, the suspect Wang established Changzhou Baode Culture and Art Co., Ltd. and Tangyu Information Ownership Registration Center, and then recruited more than 30 suspects, including Zhou, Qi and Lu, to commit crimes in the form of gangs and companies.

"Buyers are all played by company salesmen, and the so-called appraisal certificates are also templates. The seller is still on the way to appraisal. We have already discussed the appraisal results in the WeChat group."

The suspect Zhou said that the core personnel like him in the company had worked in similar collection companies in Suzhou, Shanghai and other places before, which can be described as "veterans" in Jianbao fraud. For the new recruits, they also printed the so-called "eighteen palms of the dragon" book, which recorded the marketing strategy, communication skills and other words in detail for the salesman to "learn".

There are three kinds of fraud methods of the gang. The first one is the collection exhibition, which does not require appraisal. The seller only needs to pay a fee ranging from 500 yuan to 2,000 yuan, and they are responsible for informing the customer. "In fact, we will not find buyers to see the exhibits at all." The salesman of the company said that the salesman can get a commission of 10% to 15% of the exhibition fee for completing this "exhibition" list. Because the commission is too small, the salesman will choose the other two "businesses"-private trading and auction.

When the seller asks for a private transaction, the "buyer" played by the company’s insiders will negotiate in time and ask the seller to identify or prove the ownership of the collection. The cost of an identification is generally about 1% of the collection price. Of course, the "appraisal certificate" will show that the collection is a collection, and private transactions are not allowed. At this point, the seller has lost the appraisal fee of 10,000 to 20,000 yuan, and usually accepts the suggestion of the salesman to help the auction for free.

Another part of the sellers, after the "experts" preliminarily appraise the value of the collection, will go directly to the auction form. Although the appraisal certificate can be omitted, they still need to pay a pledge of about 1% of the starting price, and they also have to pay fees ranging from 10,000 yuan to 20,000 yuan. Finally, the money will be paid by the "experts", salesmen and senior management of the company in proportion. Zhou, the suspect, said that late June was the auction time declared by the company to the seller, "because we planned to close our business and leave in June."　　

Fraud more than 350 people

Earned more than 5.6 million yuan in half a year.

After fully grasping the clues, in May this year, the public security organs arrested the fraud gang in one fell swoop. According to the confession, the company searched for victims nationwide through online posting, QQ, WeChat, telephone invitation, etc., and lured the victims to the company in the name of high-priced private collection transactions, and then charged the "appraisal fee" for fictitious buyers to purchase the collection and the "service fee" and "pledge money" for fictitious company auctions to implement fraud. According to preliminary statistics, the registered company has more than 350 victims in half a year, involving more than 5.6 million yuan.

A few days ago, Wujin District Procuratorate made a decision to approve the arrest of 35 suspects, including Wang, Zhou, Qi and Lu, on suspicion of fraud. Two people were not arrested because of insufficient evidence. The case is still under further review.

The prosecutor reminded that some fraud gangs now use cultural media companies as a cover to conduct cultural relics identification fraud, and attract collectors to take the bait for reasons such as high-priced acquisitions and guaranteed auctions. If collectors want to identify and auction their collections, they must look for qualified institutions. Regular cultural relics identification institutions charge relatively low fees (or no fees) for cultural relics identification. In principle, only the age is appraised, not the cultural relics. The appraisal process needs to be carried out by two or more appraisers with appraisal qualifications, and the relevant employment certificates can be found on the website of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.

At the same time, the prosecutor also suggested that the masses should strengthen their awareness of prevention, listen to expert opinions from different channels and compare them to avoid falling into the trap of swindlers.

Source: Procuratorial Daily

Comprehensive editor of rule of law Pudong