A man accused of falsely claiming ties to judicial bigwigs and swindling a kickback of 100,000 yuan (US$14,500) for the release of a suspect in detention has been arrested for fraud.

According to Putuo District prosecutors, the suspect surnamed Zhang was born in Jiangsu Province and came to Shanghai in 2013, where he falsely portrayed himself as the child of high-ranking officials and boasted about his close relations with police, prosecutors and judges.

He was approached last November by a woman surnamed Pan, who was seeking ways to get her son, a fraud suspect, out of detention.

Zhang demanded 100,000 yuan and Pan paid him half of the money after their first meeting last November 8. Three days later, Zhang urged her to pay the rest, and Pan with the help of her boss surnamed Yan did so, prosecutors said. But instead of Pan’s son being freed, a trial date was set — and they lost contact with Zhang, prosecutors said.

Zhang had fled, they added. He was found in Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province, on March 5.