Inmate in Gansu receives harsher sentence for defrauding fellow prisoners

An inmate in Gansu province, surnamed Li, has received a significantly harsher sentence after defrauding his fellow prisoners out of over 170,000 yuan ($18,000).

Li, who was already serving a sentence for fraud, reportedly leveraged his position in the prison cell block to gain the trust of other inmates. According to Redstar News, Li falsely claimed he could secure easier work assignments and improve living conditions within the prison.

Using these deceptive tactics, Li convinced one inmate, surnamed Wu, to have his father transfer 100,000 yuan to Li's father's bank account. Li further attempted to extort an additional 60,000 yuan from Wu but was unsuccessful.

Li's fraudulent activities extended beyond Wu. He reportedly tricked several other inmates into paying him a total of 12,800 yuan with promises of providing cigarettes and other conveniences inside the prison.

The entire sum, amounting to 112,800 yuan, was transferred to Li's father's account. After the scheme was exposed, Li returned only 53,500 yuan to the prison authorities.

The Suzhou District People's Court found Li guilty of fraud and considered the severity of committing the crime while incarcerated. Despite confessing to his actions and returning a partial sum, Li received a harsher sentence due to the nature of the offense.

Li's original sentence had 2 years and 10 months remaining with a 100,000 yuan fine. The court added an additional 3 years and 5 months imprisonment and a 130,000 yuan fine to his existing punishment.

Furthermore, the court ordered the return of the recovered 53,500 yuan to the victims and mandated the pursuit of the remaining 59,300 yuan.