Man accused of fraud with fake suicide attempts

A former air-conditioning installation worker who swindled people by pretending he was going to jump from buildings has been charged with causing a disturbance, the Jiangxi provincial Shangrao city people's government said on Tuesday.

The 47-year-old suspect, surnamed Li, from Yancheng, Jiangsu province, pretended he was about to jump off buildings 25 times in seven provinces since 2011, according to the Hengfeng county people's prosecuting department in Shangrao, Jiangxi province.

In the process he was able to cheat people out of 12,000 yuan ($1,964) by telling sob stories.

"It is regarded as the first national case for us to charge someone under the guise of jumping off a building," the Hengfeng county people's prosecuting department said in a statement.

"In order to arouse other's attention, Li always chose construction buildings in the citys' busy sections to conduct his crimes and targeted the rescue personnel," said Zeng Zhijiang, a police officer from the Shangrao public security department.

Before being detained by police on Aug 23, Li succeeded in defrauding 1,600 yuan in two fake attempts to jump off buildings in Shangrao between April and August, according to the city government.

One case occurred in April, when Li stood on a bamboo scaffold and threatened to jump off a four-story construction building near Yu-shan county railway station. He was holding a blade in his hand and seemed excited, according to the Shangrao public security department.

After receiving a report from the public, police officers and firefighters immediately rushed to the scene and persuaded Li to come down. He said he had come to Yu-shan to search for his missing wife, but had failed. He had spent all his money and had no interest in life, and wanted to die, the department said.

During a 30-minute negotiation with police, Li asked for 600 yuan, then agreed not to jump from the building.

In August, Shangrao police received another report in which a man claimed he had been swindled of 5,000 yuan by a woman in Guangfeng county, Shangrao, and had no money to return home. He threatened to jump off a construction building in a busy local street, the city's public security department said.

Police immediately went to the site and after negotiations, the owner of the construction building agreed to give the man 1,000 yuan and persuaded him to come down off the building.

A police officer named Zeng noticed the two incidents were very alike and the supposed jumper gave similar stories, such as seeking his wife or spending all his money, to gain sympathy, the department said.

Zeng reported his suspicions to the Shangrao public security department, which listed the suspect in a warning information system and issued a warning to the public to prevent them from being swindled by a similar ploy.

Only four days after issuing the information, on Aug 23, Li pretended he was going to jump from a six-story construction building in Hengfeng county. He was detained by local police on the site, according to the city government.

Li Fang, a lawyer from the All China Lawyers Association, said that if the suspect is convicted of causing a disturbance, he could serve a jail term of up to five years, plus fines.

"If the circumstances are serious, such as gathering others together to cause trouble repeatedly in public places or seriously damaging social order, suspects will serve sentences between five and 10 years," she said.

zhangyan1@chinadaily.com.cn