Money from Nanjing banking scam funneled to Macau

A woman engaging in a fake banking scam in the eastern city of Nanjing reportedly absconded to Macau with the clients’ money, as reported by the BBC. From February 2013 to October 2014, the fake bank conned nearly 200 savers out of about RMB200 million (USD32m).
Scammers intentionally decorated the fake bank’s interior like a state-owned commercial bank, with uniformed “clerks” working behind the counters handling “official” documents, a LED screen and an “official” website.
According to the Southern Metropolis Daily, the firm lured customers into depositing cash with high interest rates, but it was in fact a rural collective that was supposed to provide agriculture information and had none of the accreditations required to operate as a bank or provide financial services.
Police said that the fake bank had been promising savers interest rates of 2 percent per week and high interest subsidies. The fraudulently received deposits were used to invest in real estate and loans, where the scammers pocketed the difference.
Residents in Nanjing generally didn’t have much to deposit, thus the scammers turned to the nearby city of Hangzhou and publicized the fake bank through intermediaries via the Wechat social networking platform. As it was common for local banks there to offer customers additional interest subsidies, many businessmen were deceived by the fake bank and each made a deposit of over RMB100,000.
A businessman who handed over RMB12million in 2014 grew suspicious when he wasn’t paid the promised interest on his money, and went to the police after the bank refused to return his savings. On Chinese social media, the fact that the fake bank was able to operate for so long has left the public incredulous.
The Nanjing authorities have arrested five people over the scam, including a female manager who fled to Macau with the customers’ money. The woman was reportedly persuaded by Nanjing police to return to the city and surrendered herself to the authorities at the end of last month. Currently, the Nanjing police are chasing the remaining two deputies who are at large, as well as tracking down the whereabouts of over RMB100 million in missing capital. BY