Recently, the Intermediate People's Court of Suqian City, Jiangsu Province, made a ruling to uphold the first instance court's sentence of three years and six months in prison for Zhang, who was sentenced to impersonating a police officer for fraud in accordance with the law. In August 2024, while waiting for customers at the entrance of Siyang County Hospital, driver Wu met Zhang who took the initiative to strike up a conversation. Zhang revealed in the chat that he is a "police officer" of the county public security bureau. The two of them had a great conversation and added each other on WeChat. In subsequent interactions, Zhang not only showed Wu pictures of items such as handcuffs and police pants, but also appeared with another companion who was also wearing police pants. These actions made Wu firmly believe in Zhang's identity as a "police officer". When Zhang borrowed money from him multiple times for reasons such as not enough money to treat people to meals and not enough money to buy things, Wu readily agreed, with a cumulative amount of more than 6200 yuan. Yang, who is engaged in the business of recycling scrapped vehicles, also had a similar experience. In August 2024, Yang received a WeChat friend request from Zhang. He sent a video of multiple scrapped vehicles parked in the parking lot, claiming that there were batches of vehicles that needed to be dealt with. After the meeting, Zhang wore black pants and black short sleeves, claiming to be a "police officer" responsible for logistics work at the county public security bureau, and took out "handcuffs" and other identification items from the black briefcase he carried with him. To further gain trust, Zhang took Yang to the parking lot to inspect the goods. After inspecting the goods on site, Zhang informed Yang that he needed to go to the Public Security Bureau to handle the procedures for scrapping the vehicle first, and sent photos of him working at the entrance of the Public Security Bureau and his colleagues. He claimed that the procedures had been completed and demanded that Yang pay a prepayment of 6000 yuan. After Yang made the payment, Zhang procrastinated and shifted the blame for various reasons. Yang noticed something unusual and requested a refund but was unsuccessful, so he reported it to the public security organs. In October 2024, Zhang was arrested by the public security organs. The public security organs have found that from May to August 2024, Zhang impersonated the identity of a police officer and fraudulently obtained money from multiple victims, including Yang and Wu, under the pretext of selling scrapped vehicles, assisting in handling violations, and urgently needing money, totaling more than 21000 yuan. In January 2025, the public security organs transferred the case to the Siyang County Procuratorate for examination and prosecution. The procuratorial organ found that Zhang had no fixed job and no actual ability to repay. He disguised himself as a police officer offline and presented fake police equipment to carry out deceptive behavior, causing multiple victims to fall into a mistaken understanding and deliver property. Their behavior not only violates the property rights and interests of citizens, but also seriously damages the credibility of state organs and the image of the people's police, which meets the constituent elements of the crime of fraud and deception. After arriving at the case, Zhang confessed that he impersonated a police officer not only to satisfy his vanity, but also to defraud money. ”Zhao Qing, the prosecuting attorney in charge, stated that Zhang committed a total of over 21000 yuan in fraudulent activities and had multiple criminal records of theft, fraud, and deception. He impersonated a police officer to commit fraud and was a repeat offender and should be punished severely according to the law. In March 2025, the Siyang County Procuratorate lawfully prosecuted the defendant Zhang for the crime of fraud and deception. In June of this year, the court sentenced him to three years and six months in prison in accordance with the law. After the first instance verdict, Zhang filed an appeal. In September, the Suqian Intermediate People's Court made a ruling to reject the appeal and uphold the original verdict. (New Society)