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Olympic ticket scam artist appeals

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-11-27 11:04

A man sentenced to 15 years in jail for swindling 1.6 million yuan in Olympic ticket sales will appeal to a higher court for a lesser sentence, the Haidian district court said yesterday.

Chen Weitun, 42, was convicted of fraud and given a jail sentence and a fine of 20,000 yuan on Nov 18, the Haidian district court report said.

The report said that from July 2007 to June 2008, Chen swindled the money from the owner of a tour agency surnamed Du by claiming he could get hold of Beijing Olympic Game's tickets.

A press officer surnamed Fan with the district court said yesterday that Olympic ticket fraud cases in Beijing were rare.

Chen, a local Beijinger, is unemployed despite holding a college degree.

He is currently detained at Haidian detention house. Fan said Chen planned to represent himself in his appeal.

Chen was arrested on June 2, 2009 outside a primary school in Tongzhou district. He told police he spent all the money gambling in Macao.

The court said Chen heard that Du was looking for a large amount of tickets to organize Olympics sightseeing tour groups. Chen told Du he had access to them.

Du requested 7,199 tickets and was told by Chen to pay up front because reservations had to be made for Olympic tickets. Du paid both in cash and through bank transfers.

When Du asked for the tickets in June last year, Chen informed him he couldn't get them any more and disappeared. Du immediately reported the case to the police.

The court said Chen had been previously convicted of fraud in 1987 and had received a four-year jail term. He was released in 1991.

Fan said the Intermediate Court has yet to decide the date for the appeal.

In November 2008, two men who swindled 680,000 yuan using false Olympic ticket sales were jailed for more than 18 months and fined 447,000 yuan each at Xicheng district court.

The con artists had swindled a law firm in Guangdong province and an air conditioning company in Beijing by saying they could secure Olympic tickets.

Another man who made unauthorized profits of 94,400 yuan by selling genuine Olympic tickets was sentenced to eight months in prison and fined 100,000 yuan at Chongwen district court in February.