16 jailed in Shanghai for abusive loan schemes

Sixteen men involved in four cases of lending money at exorbitant interest rates- to juveniles in most cases - with the aim of grabbing residences possessed by their targets' families, were sentenced to prison terms of two to 16 years by Shanghai district courts on Monday.

That brought the number of such cases, a new form of debt trap, to 19, and the number of offenders to 49 so far in the city. The offenders were found guilty of fraud and extortion, the Shanghai High People's Court said.

"Many of the victims in such cases, which began to emerge last year, are university or high school students. What the offenders are really targeting are their parents' house properties, since real estate prices have continued to soar in the city in recent years," said Huang Xiangqing, deputy director of the court.