A retired official in Bao an who allegedly swindled 7 million yuan (US$1.07 million) by promising to find the victims government jobs was recently apprehended in Guangzhou, Bao an police said Wednesday.
Li Yulan, 51, was caught when she was buying lottery tickets in Luogang District in Guangzhou, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported.
She had worked for the Bao an District government administration office as a vice department chief before she retired last June. However, she claimed to have access to quotas for job vacancies because of her special connection with senior district officials.
Earlier media reports said she had defrauded her victims of more than 1 million yuan. As police investigations deepened, however, she was found to have defrauded at least 7 million yuan, police told the Daily.
Li disappeared after early retirement. Li was divorced and hasn t stayed in contact with either her ex-husband or her son, said a police officer. So although most of the victims were friends and relatives, they couldn t find her after they found out they had been cheated, the officer was quoted by the Daily as saying.
One of the victims, identified only as Ou, said she couldn t believe Li had cheated her because they had known each other for more than 10 years.
In April last year, Ou gave Li 130,000 yuan, asking her to find a government job for a relative. Li also defrauded about 30 other victims using the same tactics.
Police said she had gambled away about 2 million yuan by the time she was caught.
Her former employer said her pension had been frozen and she would be deprived of the status of a former public servant.
The investigation is continuing. (SD News)
