türkçe links to original Turkish article
(Hürriyet Newspaper, 14 March 2021)
Long-distance hoodwinking.
The whole caper came to light when Hongwu Z. (29) and Kang W. (28)
went to the Chinese Consulate General in Istanbul on 5 March. They
wanted help from their diplomats, claiming that they had been held
hostage in a villa in Silivri, Istanbul, and forced to defraud others.
The Chinese diplomats informed Istanbul police right away.
The police determined through a check of passport records that a
Chinese gang had come to Istanbul in recent months and rented nine
villas in the Büyükçekmece-Silivri area, where rents are cheaper in
the winter months. They complied with COVID measures and
quarantined for15 days in rooms of the villas.
The Chinese diplomats and the police found the gang's announcements
posted to internet sites in China. The Chinese citizens kept in the
villas were forced to gain information about the sexual inclinations,
hobbies and professions of those who responded to the gang's internet
ads, in order to create a friendship bond. Once this was accomplished
the gang members would intervene to promise big profits from
investments in cryptocurrencies.
What goes on behind closed doors...
Police mounted an operation against the villas in Büyükçekmece and
Silivri and 18 gang members were taken into custody, while 101 of
their Chinese hostages (!) were freed. A search yielded 1.635 million TL
(about $250,000), some Chinese and Philippine currencies, along
with dollars and Euros, 123 passports, 32 residency permits, 712
cellphones, 112 computers, two money-counting machines and bank
cards.
Of the 18 individuals taken into custody, 6 were jailed and the others
were enjoined from leaving Turkey while under judicial supervision.
The 101 Chinese hostages were sent back to China by the consulate.
Hongwu Z. explained how he happened to come into the gang's
hands: "When I told them that I work in finance they invited me to
come to Istanbul. They met me at the airport and took me to a villa
where there were other Chinese people present, who were engaged
in bilking Chinese citizens with regard to the buying and selling of
cryptocurrencies. When I said I didn't want to do this, they forced
me to remain. When I told them I had to return to China because of
a sick relative they refused to let me go, so I escaped."
The gang rented the entire complex of 8 villas at Gümüşyaka in
Silivri and the ninth villa was in Büyükçekmece. The Gümüşkaya
complex is surrounded by a high wall and one villa was used as a
cafeteria and another as a dormitory. The remaining six villas
were outfitted with computers and internet connections, making the
site essentially a technology base.
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