Four private detectives from Liaoning province have been sentenced to prison terms ranging from seven to eight months in Chaoyang district court for running an illegal operation.

They were also ordered to pay fines totaling 300,000 yuan on Thursday.

Zhang Jun, the judge of the court's No 1 criminal tribunal, told METRO the four - Li Tao , Han Zhi, Sun Guanghai and Wang Yong - were all one-time farmers in their 30s who had received a middle school education.

Zhang said the four indicated they had no plans to appeal the sentence.

The men registered their private detective agency in February 2009, describing it as a "business consultancy." It was located on the East Third Ring Road, Chaoyang district. Detective agencies are not legal in China.

The men were accused of tracking, photographing and locating people between February and August 2009.

They provided the private information - including details such as marital status, family background, assets and bank accounts - to Zhang Guoqiang, a 29-year-old from Jilin province, and Li Tanrui. They earned 215,950 yuan through the illegal work, said Zhang.

Chaoyang police arrested the men in September 2009 and officers also seized equipment, including three cameras, two video cameras, one tracking device, two telescopes and a secret filming device.

Police also confiscated a watch with a hidden camera and an intercom device, Zhang said.

Zhang explained that the men gained profit illegally because they violated others' rights to privacy and property rights.

People convicted of conducting an illegal operation face imprisonment of up to five years and a fine of as much as five times the amount of money involved.

Many private detective companies are thought to exist in downtown Beijing, masquerading as business consultation companies.

The manager of one such company, surnamed Fang, told METRO they offer a wide range of services including getting information about marriages, property, bank accounts and family members and gathering business and intelligence information from companies.

Fang said they provide private detective services to many clients and usually give them feedback within one week.

"You can be completely assured about the authenticity of our information because we can directly get relevant information from the banking system and civil affairs departments," he said.

Hong Daode, a law professor from China University of Political Science and Law, told METRO the companies stand on the edge of the law.

Hong said industrial and commercial departments should strictly administer approval procedures and the banking system should enhance its supervision of personal bank information to ensure details are not leaked to the wrong people.

(China Daily 03/12/2010 page25)