A powerful property tycoon in China has confessed to robbing a bank 16
years ago and using the money to start up his massive empire now worth
billions.
According to Peoples Daily Online, Shi, the
53-year-old was arrested last week in the central China's Zhumadian city
for a crime he committed in December 1999.At the time five armed
suspects broke into a bank in the city of Zhengzhou, injuring two clerks
and walking away with 2.8 million yuan (£290,000) in cash.On the
morning of October 21, more than 80 undercover police
investigators rushed to the Zhumadian, Henan province, and arrested five
suspects including billionaire Shi.
Shi is said to be well known in Zhumadian for being an extremely powerful and successful property tycoon.
He
runs a number of businesses including industrial real estates,
development and trade companies, and leisure farms. All earning him a
fortune. As well as property, he has billions invested in local
businesses and often hosts regular charity events. All of this has
influenced the community he lives in.
After he was arrested, Shi admitted to breaking into the bank armed with four suspects and stealing the money 16 years ago.
Shi
told police, before the robbery in the early 1990’s he was not
satisfied with his income as a construction worker. So he gathered a
group of guys who were working as painters for a ‘secret job.’
Then
for three months leading up to the raid they hatched a plan to rob the
bank which included a well-designed escape route. Doing so they
seriously injured a man was shot in the head and left in a pool of
blood, and a woman. It is unclear what happened to her.
The whole process which involved the suspects dressed as business men took just five minutes.
It was a case that shocked the whole country as no one has ever been arrested since it took place in 1999.
Many
of the investigators working on the case are now retired but they never
gave up. From a list of 158 suspects they eventually narrowed it down
to five.16 years later the Zhengzhou City Public Security Bureau held a
press conference to confirm the mystery of the 1999 bank robbery had
successfully been solved.
A vital piece of evidence in the investigation was a hammer that was used to brake the bullet proof glass during the raid.
The police managed to track down its manufacturer which led them
to a market in Zhengzhou where they were sold. 24 had been bought in
the time leading up to the robbery.
Investigators tracked down
the whereabouts of 16 hammers which left eight unaccounted for, which
eventually led them to the five suspects.The authorities in Zhengzhou
said Shi - a construction project contractor who regularly hosted
charity events - claimed most of the money from the robbery and used it
to develop his real estate in the southern Chinese city of Zhumadian,
earning him billions.
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