Eighteen people have been arrested in Shanghai for fraudulently obtaining discount coupons, police said on Wednesday.
Investigations are said to have revealed that in early November, a restaurant owner surnamed Guo, along with store manager Liu instructed another person, surnamed Hu, to acquire a large number of dining coupons by posting illegal information online and instigating others to modify their IP addresses to obtain coupons from other regions. They are also said to have fabricated transactions to defraud consumption subsidies.
Guo was detained by police on November 11 and the other suspects are subjected to criminal compulsory measures, according to the police.
During the investigation of another case on December 13, local police found four people, including a person surnamed Zhang, suspected of posting on social media platforms to organize a large number of individuals to change their mobile phone locations to obtain discount coupons. They are also said to have colluded with seven catering companies to defraud subsidies by making fake transactions.
Police investigating illegal discount coupon activity escort a suspect.
As of December 17, a total of 15 individuals, including Zhang and the relevant in the catering enterprises, are subjected to criminal compulsory measures.
To boost consumption, Shanghai released 360-million-yuan (US$50.7 million) discount vouchers from late September through online payment platforms including WeChat Pay, Alipay and Union Pay.
These allowed discounts of up to 30 percent for a minimum expenditure of 300 yuan, 500 yuan, 800 yuan and 1,000 yuan, which attracted wide attention and interest.
But some residents complained it was increasingly difficult to get the free coupons, and some coupons were found to be sold online.
Police say reselling vouchers at a profit is illegal, as is cheating subsidies through false transactions.
Shanghai police said they will closely monitor and crack down all types of criminal activities related to discount coupons to protect the rights and interests of local consumers.
Police officers check items seized at a suspect's home in another province.
