Handan Story

Last week the Provincial branch of the Agricultural Bank of China right here in Handan was robbed.The total take......FIFTY TWO MILLION RMB!I don't have any figures to support this but I'm guessing this is one of the largest heists in Chinese history.I mean really...how often do banks get robbed here?
 
 The real kicker though is that they almost got away with it and got caught in the stupidest of ways.The thieves were security guards at the bank and it took the bank two days to report it because they thought it was a clerical error.
 
 So how did they get caught?Ahem...it turns out they were both gambling addicts and they blew FORTY SEVEN MILLION on LOTTERY TICKETS!!This naturally attracted some attention and the cops picked up one in Beijing and one in the south.Both are now dead.
 
 Man...I don't know how you spend 47 million on lottery tickets in a single week.Hard to believe they were smart enough to pull off such an ambitious robbery and stupid enough to be so boneheaded in the aftermath.

What nobs!

..."they thought it was a CLERICAL error"...!!!!   

Anyone else having an idea right now? 

Yeah, we should be selling lottery tickets!

That just sums up the Chinese.  You steal enough money to hav a very good life somewhere in the sun, and then throw it all away by spending it on tickets, with a million to one chance you may get your, um, money back again.  FFS.

If I were to rob a bank in China I'd do it on a summer afternoon between 12 and 2.Every cop in the country is either napping in their squad car or getting plastered over lunch.

If I were to rob a bank in China I'd do it on a summer afternoon between 12 and 2.Every cop in the country is either napping in their squad car or getting plastered over lunch.

1. Laowai Agent 'A', a woman with a low-cut top showing plenty of cleavage, asks the security guard for help... in Spanish.   
2. Sino accomplices 'Bee' and 'Cee' set up a card table in the corner, drop mah jongg tiles onto it and start stirring them loudly.
3. Laowai agents "dee through 'Aitch' begin a full rendition of You're a Good Man Charlie Brown outside on the sidewalk into a loud P.A.
4. Sino accomplices 'Elle', 'Em' and 'En' light strings of firecrackers
5. 'Eye', 'Jay' and 'Kay', dressed in security outfits, walk be3hind the now deserted counters and clean out the drawers.
6. Sidewalk show announces intermission. Sino 'Oh' announces that the sticky rice is ready next door.  everyone flees in the van out back.

How are y'all spending your share?  I'm buying lotto...

Sigh ... it begs the question ... Are they part of the glue sniffing fraternity that Raoul has documented in his revised history of the middle kingdom?

 This story is bizarre enough to have been picked up by some foreign press.Here is a report from Vietnam.net


Heads roll at bank in wake of massive theft
17:45' 24/04/2007 (GMT+7) 
The Agricultural Bank of China yesterday announced the dismissal of a number of senior officials and employees in the wake of a 51-million-yuan (US$6.60-million) theft from a branch in north China.

It is one of the nation's biggest cash thefts on record.

 
 
The bank demanded the resignation of Qu Jianyao, president of the ABC's Hebei Province branch. Deng Zhenguo, a vice president of the branch in charge of accounting, and Xu Yuesheng, in charge of security at the branch, were fired. All the employees in the cash-management center at the branch in Handan, a city in Hebei, where the massive theft occurred, have been suspended during the investigation.

The sacked people also include the president of the Handan branch, two of its vice presidents in charge of accounting and security and the director and vice directors of the cash center.

Han Zhongqi, the ABC's vice president, said the headquarters will mete out more punishment to those responsible when public security authorities finalize the investigation.

Han said the main suspects were the bank's employees, proving that loopholes lie in the management. The Handan branch signed a contract with a security company, which took the charge of safeguarding the vault and cash transport. The introduction of the service lowered the branch's vigilance, Han said.

Police last week arrested two suspects - Ren Xiaofeng, 34, and Ma Xiangjing, 37 - for the theft from the vault, which was discovered on April 14.

The duo, who worked for the cash center, have confessed to the crime.

They said they stole the money from the vault several times from last month and spent most in buying lottery tickets in the hope of making a fortune and then returning the money.

Afraid of being detected by the police, they decided to commit the last theft on April 14 and fled. The Ministry of Public Security last week put them on its most-wanted list, with a 200,000-yuan reward.

Three people will share the reward over Ren's arrest.

 

Three people will share the reward over Ren's arrest.

...and spend it on lottery tickets.