Buddhist abbot blackmailed over affair with man's wife, court told

A couple in Fujian province is accused of extorting millions of yuan from a Buddhist abbot after filming an affair between the abbot and the woman, media outlet ThePaper.cn reported.

The couple, surnamed Qian and Cai, are accused of trying to extort the abbot, whose secular surname is Zhang, by threatening to release photos and videos of the affair online and asking for money of 3.2 million yuan ($440,000), the report said. The trial took place in Mingshan, Sichuan province, on Sunday.

Prosecutors said that Zhang, who was a customer of Qian and Cai's online redwood furniture shop, had an affair with Cai in February 2021 in Chengdu, Sichuan province. Qian found out about the affair and asked Cai to ask Zhang out again. They went to a resort in Fujian province in April, where Qian secretly filmed another affair between Cai and Zhang.

In July of that year, Qian and Cai went to Chengdu to confront Zhang, who paid 1 million yuan in cash and another 1 million by buying furniture to "settle" the affair.

In February this year, Qian went to Chengdu again and threatened Zhang to post the affair online. After multiple negotiations, Zhang agreed to pay 3.2 million yuan to "eternally settle" the matter, including paying 1.2 million on site and 1 million each in the next two years.

Witnessed by Zhang's two friends, Zhang paid the money to the couple at a teahouse in Mingshan. However, fearing that the couple would continue the extortion, Zhang called the police, who came to the teahouse and detained the couple.

Prosecutors said that the couple used threatening means to extort money from Zhang, and since the amount of money that the couple extorted was "extremely large," they should bear criminal responsibility. They also said that Qian was the main culprit, while Cai, who played an accessory role in the crime, can be punished leniently.

The court did not give an immediate verdict, the report said.

The abbot Zhang involved in the case is Shi Zhaojie, abbot of Shixiang Temple in Chengdu's suburban Pujiang district, which is adjacent to Mingshan, ThePaper.cn said, citing confirmations by multiple sources.

Shi Zhaojie also serves as the head of the Buddhism association in Pujiang and is a member in the province's political advisory body.

On Tuesday, a worker from Chengdu's religious affairs bureau told media outlet High Wind News that Zhang has been suspended his job as the abbot, and a further investigation is being conducted regarding the source of the money involved.