Man jailed for swindling China Telecom of 500 phones

A man who defrauded China Telecom of hundreds of mobile phones and SIM cards worth 1.59 million yuan (US$250,899) was sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined 100,000 yuan, Huangpu District People's Court ruled today.

Prosecutors said Yang Hong, 33, used the documents of his former business partner to forge an official seal and signed a cellphone package with China Telecom Shanghai Branch in January.

With that package, he was to receive 500 mobile phones and 500 SIM cards for free before the signed agreement came into effect in March.

The court heard that Yang took 332 mobile phones and 450 SIM cards from China Telecom in January due to limited stock and sold most of them to clients in Beijing and Wuhan and used the money to pay debts.

Yang's fraud was discovered when China Telecom found its complementary phones were sold on the market and reported him to the police. He was detained on February 1.

In the court, Yang denied his crime of contract fraud, claiming he had no intention to cheat on China Telecom.

"If China Telecom hadn't alerted the police, I would have paid the deposit for each phone subscription in March according to the contract," Yang told the court.

The convict admitted that he had planned to pay the monthly phone bills out of the profits made by selling complementary phones and SIM cards.

The court ruled that Yang was guilty because he knew his debt condition but still signed the contract with forged materials.


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