Chinese Man Leaves Prison to Find 500,000 Yuan Missing From His Accounts

A man in eastern China who served seven years in prison discovered after his release that more than 500,000 yuan (about USD $70,000) had been transferred from his financial accounts while he was behind bars, prompting a police investigation into where the money went.

The case has attracted widespread attention after Chinese outlet Red Star News reported that transaction records traced more than 19,000 yuan to a WeChat account linked to the phone number of a police officer involved in the original case. WeChat is a popular app used by millions in China.

The remainder of the missing funds has not been accounted for, and police in Rui’an, Zhejiang Province, have opened a theft investigation.

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Money vanished

The man, identified only by his surname Zhang, was arrested in Rui’an in December 2018 in connection with an online lending fraud case. He was later convicted of fraud and sentenced to seven years in prison. Zhang told Red Star News that before his arrest he had 470,000 yuan stored in Alipay’s Yu’E Bao investment service, along with additional money in WeChat and other bank accounts.

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When he was released on Dec. 23, 2025, he purchased a new phone, replaced his SIM card and eventually regained access to his Alipay account. He found that only 6.43 yuan remained.

Transaction records reviewed by reporters showed that more than 479,000 yuan had been withdrawn from his Alipay investment account between Sept. 20 and Oct. 8, 2019, transferred into his Bank of Communications account and then dispersed through transfers to individual Alipay users, loan repayments and purchases on various platforms.

Some 260,000 yuan was spent in five large transactions over several days in October 2019. Zhang said the transactions occurred while he was in detention and that his cellphone remained in police custody at the time.

Reporters also found that the phone number attached to Zhang’s Alipay account had been changed on Sept. 20, 2019, the same day withdrawals from the account began. Alipay confirmed the change occurred while Zhang was in custody.

Police officer linked to WeChat transfer

WeChat records provided another clue. On Feb. 11, 2019, Zhang’s WeChat account made two payments totaling 19,334 yuan to an account named “笑熬浆糊.” Red Star News found that the account was linked to the phone number of a police officer surnamed Guo in Taigu, Shanxi Province.

Zhang said that after he reported the missing money, Guo told the sister of another person involved in the original case that he had transferred the roughly 19,000 yuan and was willing to repay it, while denying knowledge of the more than 400,000 yuan missing from Alipay.

When Red Star News contacted Guo directly on Oct. 17, however, he did not address the allegation, saying he would need authorization from his organization before responding and that reporters should contact his unit.

“I don’t care who operated the accounts. My money was indeed transferred away,” Zhang said. He said he wanted authorities to determine who moved the funds and whether there were failures in the handling of his confiscated phone and personal property.

Police formally opened a theft investigation on Sept. 29 after Zhang reported the case in August. Court records also complicate any suggestion that the missing money was simply seized to satisfy Zhang’s criminal judgment. He had been ordered to pay a 250,000-yuan fine and return 60,000 yuan in illegal proceeds. A court official told him only about 60,000 yuan had been collected, leaving roughly 240,000 yuan outstanding.

Earlier abuse of anti-fraud system

The case comes months after Caixin reported a separate scandal involving police officers in Jiangxi Province who illegally accessed China’s national anti-fraud database.

Court documents showed that officers in Shanggao County helped outsiders obtain information on more than 170 bank accounts for payments of roughly 1,000 yuan per query and placed payment freezes on 27 accounts. One police official received at least 130,000 yuan before distributing money to other officers, according to the report.

The principal defendant was sentenced in January to three years and three months in prison for illegally obtaining citizens’ personal information, while several police officers were also convicted. That case, coupled with Zhang’s unresolved missing-funds complaint have fueled public concern about how financial data and property are handled when authorities have access to citizens’ accounts.