The bizarre story of China's most prolific bank-robbers, who stole literal tons of cash and spent it on losing lotto tickets

boing
1

Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/12/04/ren-xiaofeng.html

…

1 Like
2

Whoa, that story was wild! I wonder how the journalist sourced all of this, with the mass cover-up in effect?

2 Likes
3

No credit for that rad illustration? Who did it? Anyone know?

1 Like
4

So this was a poor attempt at laundering the stolen money. It was also attempted in British Columbia, where “foreign patrons” were noticed bringing large amounts of cash to the betting tables and slot machines. Earlier this year, after news coverage, there was a limit instituted for cash that could be brought in at a time.

7 Likes
5

Good point! Added. It’s http://www.ruohanwang.com/

3 Likes
6

Ren Xiaofeng, a bank official in a small industrial city who tried to make ends meet by stealing cash to buy lottery tickets, planning to return the money out of his winnings – but instead lost, and kept on losing, until he’d stolen literal tons of cash.

I used to work for a package delivery company (bigger bulk than UPS or Fedex), and the manager of our terminal was fired for this type of embezzlement on a smaller scale. Lottery tickets every weekday, and he just couldn’t ever seem to catch up with the tally from petty cash.

2 Likes
7

Far more popular than robbing banks is simply defrauding them: Institutions face about $2 billion in losses from check and debit fraud, compared to just $30 million in robberies. As FBI special agent Jeff Lanza told Marketplace, “The ones that are taking place now are a crime for the less skilled, who aren’t smart enough to commit identity theft or file false tax returns.”

1 Like
8

It’s so nice that they’ve now parked it more stably in U.S. real estate, contributing to epidemic homelessness and diminishing the hopes of generations of skilled, college educated and employed workers who believe they are facing lifelong rent increases.

4 Likes
10

Basing all your financial hopes and dreams on lottery tickets is never a wise idea, but this takes it to a new level.

11

This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.