CHINA has detained seven people, including four police officers from three provincial areas, for their roles in a scandal related to a woman who used multiple identities to buy properties.
Dubbed the "house sister" by savvy netizens after the scam was uncovered, the woman turned out to be the owner of more than 20 apartments.
The arrested will be subject to a criminal investigation for alleged violations, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Public Security yesterday.
Police investigation found that Gong Ai'ai, a resident of Shenmu County in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, had at least two identities - Gong Ai'ai and Gong Xianxia - and several hukous, the Chinese household registration record.
Gong reportedly owns more than 20 properties worth about 1 billion yuan (US$159 million) in Beijing, some of which were purchased using fake identities.
According to an earlier ministry statement, Gong first registered as a resident in Shenmu. Later she registered three identities respectively in two counties in the neighboring Shanxi Province and Beijing between 2004 and 2008.
Two police officers in Shanxi Province have been detained for helping Gong obtain fake household registration certificates, local authorities told Xinhua news agency yesterday.
Officers Li Youbing and Bai Wenkui are suspected of violating household registration management laws and aiding Gong, a former deputy head of a bank in Shenmu County, Xinhua said.
Another officer in Beijing's Fangshan District, surnamed Liu, and a policeman in Shenmu's police department identified only as Zhang were also detained.
Two others, an employee and a retired personnel from the Beijing Education Examination Authority, and an executive from a Beijing training company, are also in the dock, the statement said.
The ministry said it has launched a special campaign in the identity and hukou administrative system to comb out fake and duplicated identity records. It said 121 police officers were punished for fraud relating to hukou in recent years.
The statement said the "house sister" scandal had highlighted loopholes in the household registration system. The certificates are necessary to secure education and medical care, as well as to restrict property purchases.
Dubbed the "house sister" by savvy netizens after the scam was uncovered, the woman turned out to be the owner of more than 20 apartments.
The arrested will be subject to a criminal investigation for alleged violations, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Public Security yesterday.
Police investigation found that Gong Ai'ai, a resident of Shenmu County in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, had at least two identities - Gong Ai'ai and Gong Xianxia - and several hukous, the Chinese household registration record.
Gong reportedly owns more than 20 properties worth about 1 billion yuan (US$159 million) in Beijing, some of which were purchased using fake identities.
According to an earlier ministry statement, Gong first registered as a resident in Shenmu. Later she registered three identities respectively in two counties in the neighboring Shanxi Province and Beijing between 2004 and 2008.
Two police officers in Shanxi Province have been detained for helping Gong obtain fake household registration certificates, local authorities told Xinhua news agency yesterday.
Officers Li Youbing and Bai Wenkui are suspected of violating household registration management laws and aiding Gong, a former deputy head of a bank in Shenmu County, Xinhua said.
Another officer in Beijing's Fangshan District, surnamed Liu, and a policeman in Shenmu's police department identified only as Zhang were also detained.
Two others, an employee and a retired personnel from the Beijing Education Examination Authority, and an executive from a Beijing training company, are also in the dock, the statement said.
The ministry said it has launched a special campaign in the identity and hukou administrative system to comb out fake and duplicated identity records. It said 121 police officers were punished for fraud relating to hukou in recent years.
The statement said the "house sister" scandal had highlighted loopholes in the household registration system. The certificates are necessary to secure education and medical care, as well as to restrict property purchases.
