Agricultural Bank of China robbery

2007 bank robbery in Handan, China

Agricultural Bank of China robbery

Ren Xiaofeng after his arrest

Native name|  邯郸农业银行劫案 (Hándān Nóngyè Yínháng Jié àn)
English name| Handan Agricultural Bank robbery
Date| October 2006 – April 2007
Venue| Agricultural Bank of China
Location| Handan, Hebei, China
Type| Embezzlement
Motive| Purchase of lottery tickets
Perpetrator| Ren Xiaofeng and Ma Xiangjing
Convicted| Ren, Ma, and three accomplices
Sentence| Execution by firing squad (Ren, Ma), prison sentences (accomplices)

Between 2006 and 2007, vault managers Ren Xiaofeng[a] and Ma Xiangjing[b] robbed and embezzled nearly 51 million yuan (c. US$6.7 million) from a branch of the Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) in Handan, Hebei, China. The embezzlement and robbery is considered to be the single-largest bank robbery in China's history.[1] Both Ren and Ma were found guilty of embezzling and robbing a state-owned corporation and were sentenced to death in August 2007. Both were executed on 1 April 2008.

## Crime

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The idea for the heist began when one of the managers, Ren Xiaofeng, stole 200,000 yuan (c. US$26,000) in October 2006 with the complicity of two security guards, Zhao Xuenan[c] and Zhang Qiang.[d] Ren then purchased tickets for the Chinese lottery, with the intention of winning a sufficiently large prize that he could return the missing funds before their absence was noted, and still have money left over for himself.[2] Despite the odds, Ren was successful, and he was able to return the 200,000 yuan to the vault.[3]

Emboldened by his initial success, Ren joined forces with another manager, Ma Xiangjing, to perpetrate the same crime on a far larger scale. During March and April 2007, the two stole 32.96 million yuan (c. US$4.3 million), and spent almost the entire amount—31.25 million yuan—on lottery tickets.[4] This time, however, they were unsuccessful, and did not win enough to replace the money they stole. In desperation, they stole six cash boxes containing a further 18 million yuan (c. US$2.3 million) on April 14, spending 14 million yuan in a single day in an effort to recover their losses. Despite Handan reporting record lottery ticket sales, the two recouped only 98,000 yuan (c. US$12,700).[5]

## Investigation and arrests

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On 16 April 2007, ABC branch managers discovered the missing money and notified the People's Police.[1] With insufficient funds to cover the losses, Ren and Ma used their meager winnings to buy fake identification and flee.[5] This prompted an extensive manhunt with the Public Security Ministry placing the two men on China's most wanted list.[1][5] Ma was arrested in Beijing on 18 April, while Ren was found a day later in Lianyungang, Jiangsu.[4]

## Aftermath

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Ren and Ma were charged with embezzlement by the Intermediate people's court, while Zhao and Zhang, the security guards, were charged with misappropriating public funds.[6] A fifth man, Song Changhai,[e] was also prosecuted for harbouring Ma while he was on the run.[1] The three accomplices were all given sentences of up to five years in prison, while the two managers were sentenced to death.[3] A landlord, a taxi driver and a car saleswoman in Lianyungang shared a 200,000 yuan reward for assisting police to arrest Ren.

In Handan, five employees of the bank were fired.[4] Only 5.5 million yuan was ever recovered by the police, with the remainder squandered by the perpetrators' gambling.[4]

Both Ren and Ma were executed by firing squad in Hebei province on 1 April 2008.[7][8]

## Notes

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1. ^ In this Chinese name, the family name is  Ren and  Xiaofeng is a generation name.
2. ^ In this Chinese name, the family name is  Ma and  Xiangjing is a generation name.
3. ^ In this Chinese name, the family name is  Zhao and  Xuenan is a generation name.
4. ^ In this Chinese name, the family name is  Zhang and  Qiang is a generation name.
5. ^ In this Chinese name, the family name is  Song and  Changhai is a generation name.

## References

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* China portal
* Banks portal

1. ^ a b c d "Suspects of China's largest bank theft go on trial", Lin Li, Xinhua News Agency, 24 July 2007
2. ^ "Robbers buy lottery tickets worth millions", The Independent Online, 25 July 2007
3. ^ a b "Chinese bankers in lottery loss", Chris Xia, BBC News, 9 August 2007
4. ^ a b c d "Bank thieves sentenced to death for inside job", Gu Jia, Shanghai Daily, 9 August 2007
5. ^ a b c "Lottery bank robbers to be executed" Archived September 30, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, Clifford Coonan, The Independent, 10 August 2007
6. ^ "Vault managers get death for bank theft". www.chinadaily.com.cn. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
7. ^ "Bungling bank robbers executed". The Sydney Morning Herald. 1 April 2008. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
8. ^ "Two executed in communist China's biggest bank heist - UPI Archives". UPI. Retrieved 2 September 2024.

*[c.]: circa