Woman Sentenced to Prison for Extorting Popular Bubble Tea Chain 10 Times

The Case of the Bubble Tea Extortionist

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The Beginning of the Fraud

During November-December 2021, eight stores of a well-known chain bubble tea shop in the same area received multiple compensation calls, all claiming that the products they received contained foreign objects, followed by demands for ten times the price as compensation.

When receiving the first complaint, a woman who identified herself as Ms. Zhang reported that there was hair in her takeout bubble tea and demanded ten times compensation. In the recorded phone call, Ms. Zhang stated, "I have made the maximum concession, not creating trouble for you or bringing negative impacts. Once I speak out, it will definitely spread from one to another, and then to more people."

Initially, the merchant offered to waive the payment, but Ms. Zhang remained firm in her attitude, stating, "I also know the law, that's why I'm following the Food Safety Law with you. Now I'm making demands on you, not you making demands on me."

She mentioned that her claim was well-founded based on the provisions of the Food Safety Law: "For food that does not meet food safety standards, in addition to claiming compensation for losses, consumers can also demand producers or sellers to pay compensation equal to ten times the price."

To avoid affecting the brand image, the store readily agreed to Ms. Zhang's request, waiving the payment and paying ten times compensation.

The Discovery

After this incident, multiple stores in the same area also received calls about foreign objects and compensation claims within more than a month. Each store manager reported the situation in the regional group. Due to the frequent occurrence of similar issues, the loss prevention department of the chain bubble tea brand took notice and investigated the multiple complaint and compensation cases.

After investigation, it was discovered that these frequent compensation calls all came from the same person, and out of 10 compensation claims, the same photo was used 6 times, with the total compensation amount reaching over 15,000 yuan. The matter was then reported to the police.

The Arrest and Confession

Subsequently, when the suspect made the 11th complaint and compensation claim, the police found the suspect, Ms. Zhang, at an accounting firm and arrested her on charges of extortion. When the police came to her door, Ms. Zhang appeared somewhat bewildered.

According to Ms. Zhang's confession, her first compensation claim was indeed because there was hair in the bubble tea, but after discovering through communication that compensation was so easy to obtain, Ms. Zhang decided to embark on this "path to fortune" after successfully "claiming compensation" the first and second times. However, she didn't realize that her "path to fortune" had already constituted the crime of extortion, and she expressed that she knew she was wrong...

The police commented on this: "It's impossible that she ordered eleven times and found hair in her drink every single time." Although Ms. Zhang expressed that she knew she was wrong, the charge of extortion could not be avoided, so the police placed her under criminal detention.

The Trial and Verdict

The case recently had its latest trial. According to People's Daily Online report, Beijing Fengtai District People's Procuratorate conducted a network video trial with Ms. Zhang. Since the defendant voluntarily pleaded guilty and accepted punishment after being arrested, compensated the victim unit for economic losses and obtained forgiveness, the court ultimately sentenced Ms. Zhang for extortion to one year and three months of fixed-term imprisonment, with a one-year and six-month probation, and a fine of 5,000 yuan.

When interviewed, the prosecutor from Fengtai District People's Procuratorate stated: "According to relevant regulations in China regarding extortion, the criminal amount must reach over 3,000 yuan. In this case, the amount involved has reached over 15,000 yuan. Additionally, extortion was committed ten times within a period of just over a month, which is considered frequent. However, considering that Ms. Zhang compensated the bubble tea shop after the incident and obtained forgiveness from the tea stores."

In the trial video, Ms. Zhang faced the procuratorial organs' accusations with tears streaming down her face, pleading with the judge and prosecutor to consider her young age and give her a chance, stating that she had already recognized her mistake.

In response, the prosecutor stated that Ms. Zhang also had a legitimate job at the time and was punished by law due to a moment of greed. Here, they also hope that everyone will not use illegal means to obtain improper benefits for small gains.

At such a young age, leaving a criminal record that can never be erased due to a moment of greed—it's not worth it, really not worth it.

Image source: Internet

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