Summary: A man in Guangzhou was detained for extorting small restaurants by claiming to swallow metal wires. He used steel wool, demanded money, and targeted busy shops. Police warn owners to install cameras, verify claims, and call police instead of settling privately.
On the evening of August 22, 2025, a restaurant owner in Guangzhou encountered a "special customer": a man ordered a simple meal at a small restaurant, and suddenly claimed to have swallowed a metal wire while eating, with the wire stuck in his throat. He demanded the owner accompany him to the hospital for treatment, and asked for 500 yuan for medical expenses, 80 yuan for cigarettes and 20 yuan for transportation fees.
Anxious to resolve the matter, the owner initially intended to compromise. Later, when communicating with fellow restaurant owners, he found that two other shops had also been extorted by the man in exactly the same way, with the total loss of the three businesses exceeding 1,000 yuan. To prevent more fellow operators from suffering harm, the owner posted a video on social media disclosing the incident.
Upon receiving the clue, the police quickly identified the suspect Chen. An investigation revealed that starting from May 2025, Chen had targeted small restaurants with few staff that wanted to avoid trouble. He carried a steel wool scrubber for dishwashing with him at all times, mixed steel wires into the meals when the restaurant was busy, then pretended to be a victim and demanded money on the grounds of medical treatment and compensation, defrauding an amount ranging from 266 yuan to 1,480 yuan each time.
In just a few months, Chen committed multiple consecutive crimes using this method and has now been placed under criminal detention in accordance with the law.
The high incidence of such cases stems from the fact that suspects take advantage of the psychology of some restaurant owners who "want to avoid trouble and damage to their store reputation", and commit fraud in a low-cost and high-frequency manner.
Here we remind all restaurant owners to take strict precautions:
1. Operate in a standardized manner and strictly control the quality of meals;
2. Install surveillance cameras to retain evidence of criminal acts;
3. Refuse to compromise and do not rush for a private settlement. First verify the situation stated by the other party, and call the police immediately if any suspicious points are found.
At the same time, everyone must clearly understand that such "extortion-style" acts of demanding money are not simple civil disputes, but suspected illegal and criminal acts. The relevant provisions are as follows:
1. Crime of Extortion. According to Article 274 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China, whoever extorts public or private property for a relatively large amount or commits extortion multiple times shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention or public surveillance, and shall also or separately be imposed a fine; whoever extorts for a huge amount or has other serious circumstances shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than ten years, and shall also be imposed a fine. In accordance with relevant judicial interpretations, extorting public or private property of more than 2,000 yuan to 5,000 yuan shall be deemed a "relatively large amount", and multiple acts of extortion may be convicted and punished without reaching the amount standard.
2. Crime of Fraud. If a suspect fabricates the fact of accidentally eating a foreign object for the purpose of illegal possession and defrauds business owners of money for a relatively large amount, he may also be suspected of the crime of fraud. According to Article 266 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China, whoever defrauds public or private property for a relatively large amount shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention or public surveillance, and shall also or separately be imposed a fine. Judicial interpretations issued by the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate clearly stipulate that defrauding public or private property of more than 3,000 yuan to 10,000 yuan shall be deemed a "relatively large amount", and each province may determine the specific standard in light of local economic conditions.
Note: The Chinese version of this article is also provided for your reference today.
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