Chinese Man Arrested After Wife Found Chained To Desk & Forced To Scam Men Online
A Chinese man has been arrested after police found his wife handcuffed to a computer desk, being forced to scam money from men online.
Chen Qiang, 29, was arrested on 16th March this year, after his wife and mother of their six-year-old daughter, Ren Xing, was finally able to contact police over her alleged ill-treatment.
Xing is said to have texted police saying: “I’m begging you to save me. I’ve been locked up by others to carry out fraud.”
When authorities arrived at the couple’s 28th floor apartment, they reportedly found Xing, 28, handcuffed to a computer desk by her ankle.
Her husband Qiang is suspected of locking her there as a way of forcing her to scam men online, using platforms such as WeChat.
Qiang apparently installed a video camera near the desk, enabling him to monitor Xing when he went out – he is said to have gone to see other women on a number of occasions.
Overall, Xing is thought to have built up a total of $87,166 (600,000 yuan) in fraudulent cash, which Qiang used to pay for luxury cars, reports claim.
Xing explains: “He would pay for daily necessities, but the rest went to luxury cars, online games and dating other women. He could have used that money to pay our mortgage, but he chose to squander it.”
The pair are said to have started scamming people online after their marriage in 2011, and it wasn’t until Xing decided she no longer wanted to be part of the activity that Qiang supposedly held her hostage.
Reports also suggest that Qiang was violent towards Xing and she attempted to escape on a few occasions – this allegedly led to her being locked within their home.
Qiang is said to have told police: “My wife cheated on me and I was teaching her a lesson”, however, he later changed his story to say that he held his wife hostage to make sure she assisted in paying off debts.
He is facing charges of illegal detention and fraud, but because of the alleged circumstances, Xing is not being charged.
The case is ongoing.
