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Sixteen years after an armed bank robbery in which 2.08 million yuan ($327,600) was stolen and two people were injured in Zhengshou, Henan province, police have arrested five suspects after matching physical evidence from the scene to area residents.
One of the suspects held in custody. [Photo/Zhengzhou Evening News Sina Weibo]
The five were arrested in the province's Zhumadian area last week, the Dahe Daily newspaper reported.
Following the Dec 15, 1999 robbery, in which a security guard and a bank employee were injured, police established a special team to solve the case with the help of the Ministry of Public Security.
The case was at a dead end for many years, despite the collection of biological evidence at the crime scene. "What we did later was to use the samples to make comparisons with suspicious people," said a criminal investigator at the department under the provincial public security bureau.
In April, the specimens were finally linked to three people in the Zhumadian area, police said.
One of the suspects surnamed Shi told police that he and the other suspects first fled to his hometown of Zhumadian and then went to Yunnan province to avoid arrest, dividing the stolen money later.
Shi said he became a businessman in 2000 and was engaged in real estate development, but "didn't have a good sleep" until he was arrested on Wednesday, police said.
The suspect, Shi, following his arrest in Henan. The multi-millionaire property developer is accused of masterminding a bank robbery in 1999. Photo: Sina.weibo
A wealthy Chinese property developer and four others have arrested in connection with an armed bank robbery committed in northern Henan province 16 years ago.
The five were accused of breaking into the bank in the provincial capital, Zhengzhou, with modified revolvers and making off with 2.08 million yuan (worth HK$2.5 million today) cash in December, 1999.
One security guard and a bank clerk were shot and injured during the robbery, police said.
The robbery created a sensation in China and prompted top leaders, including then prime minister Zhu Rongji, to issue special orders to solve the case, the report said.
But the investigation went cold due to a lack of evidence until recently, when Zhengzhou police review the files.
With the help of new technology, new evidence emerged that implicated the 53-year-old billionaire from Zhumadian, identified only by his surname, Shi.
Suspects told police they followed Shi from the town to work on a construction site in Zhengzhou in the early 1990s.
Shi, who went on to became a construction contractor, was said to have deeply resented wealthy bosses who lashed out their money while he and his workers struggled on their wages.
According to a plan allegedly masterminded by Shi, the five broke into the bank at around 7pm as staff were doing the daily accounting, and took away five bags of cash.
The men returned Zhumadian before travelling to Yunnan province in southwestern China where they hid out for six months.
Shi invested his share of the stolen money in property and became a multi-millionaire real estate developer, the report said.
According to Chinese law, armed robbery of a financial institution can be punishable by death.
An unidentified suspect in a 16-year-old bank robbery is taken away by police in Zhengzhou. Photo: Sina.weibo
