Elderly crash 'victim' caught for hoaxing

An elderly Beijing resident, who sought compensation for intentionally getting knocked down by passing cars, is the subject of a two-month-long investigation after local procuratorate ratified his arrest on Feb 11.

Sun Wanxiang, 65, who committed 39 known scam cases to extort 40,000 yuan of compensation, spent Chinese lunar New Year at a local detention house.

"Local police will continue their investigation. They estimate the number of scams could rise," said Liu Yang, press officer with Dongcheng district procuratorate.

Liu added that if new or key evidence was found near the end of the investigation, local police could apply for an extension. Sun will then face public prosecution in court.

Sun began his extortion technique on the capital's streets in 2001, according to his confession with local police.

"I have no job and I needed to feed myself and my son. I lost my home in my divorce so I decided to risk my body to earn money," Sun said in an interview with Beijing News in January.

To begin with, Sun allowed himself to be hit by passing cars and was repeatedly injured.

He "earned" his first 200-yuan payoff by stepping in front of a taxi and breaking several bones, according to the Beijing News.

As his "business" developed, Sun became more skillful. He fabricated traffic accidents by pushing his bike into the backs of cars and then falling to the ground.

He even hired a driver, his middle-aged neighbor surnamed Li, to transport him and his bicycle across the city after his painful leg stopped him from making the distance alone.

Sun paid Li 200 yuan for each journey. They are both currently being detained at a local detention house, Dongcheng procuratorate said.

On Jan 11, local police witnessed Sun act out an accident at a busy Beijing crossroads and successfully blackmail 550 yuan from the driver. Sun was arrested on the spot.

According to the traffic hotline, Sun has been involved in 341 accidents over the past nine years.

However, local police said 1,000 was a more accurate figure, with total compensation in the hundreds of thousands of yuan.

"Most victims probably worried about getting into trouble and paid to leave - that's why Sun went uncaught for such a long time," a press officer with Dongcheng police said.

- Tommy Lee.