Government and Policy

China gets tough on credit card-related crimes

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-12-15 14:02

BEIJING: China announced detailed punishment standards against credit card-related crimes in a bid to fight "increasingly rampant" frauds, officials said on Tuesday.

The Supreme People's Court (SPC) and the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) on Tuesday announced a judicial interpretation that clarifies several Criminal Law articles concerning credit card fraud.

Offenders could face more than 10 years in jail or even life imprisonment, as well as a fine as high as 500,000 yuan ($73,200), if a case involves more than 25 fake credit cards, according to the legal document, which will become effective on Wednesday.

Card users could be charged if he or she intentionally delays the payment three months after the second notice of card-issuing bank arrives.

Xiong Xuanguo, vice-president of the SPC, told a press conference that credit card fraud has been on the rise in recent years as the bank card service expanded rapidly in China.

"Card fraudulence, such as using fake ID to apply a card or withdrawing a large amount of money with faked cards, has become so rampant that it even develops as an industry," Xiong said.