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Man facing court over extortion charges
2015/10/23 1:26:47

  A MAN has been charged with trying to extort money from a Shanghai-based food company after threatening to poison its products, prosecutors in Minhang District said yesterday.

  The 39-year-old, surnamed Xu, from Hangzhou, capital of east China’s Zhejiang Province, is accused of sending 16 e-mails to the company, which was not named, via a proxy server in a bid to remain anonymous.

  In the e-mails, the first of which was sent in May, Xu masqueraded as single mother in need of money to raise her three children, prosecutors said.

  He threatened to inject poison into the company’s products unless it sent him US$24,000 worth of Amazon gift cards by June 30, they said.

  The company responded to the e-mails to maintain contact with the suspect, but also alerted the police, who were able to trace Xu — despite his efforts to disguise his location — using his IP address.

  He was detained at his home in Hangzhou on June 26, where police also discovered an assortment of herbs and syringes, which they claimed could have been used to contaminate food products, prosecutors said.

  When interviewed, Xu is alleged to have said that he needed money for to pay for his health care.

  If found guilty of extortion, he could face between three and five years in prison, prosecutors said.