36 fake journalists seized for fraud

A total of 36 fake journalists involved in seven cases have been seized for defrauding others, according to the National Anti-Pornography and Anti-Illegal Publications Office.

These people have pretended to be journalists, but none have journalism qualifications, which must be approved by the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT), according to a statement given by the office on Tuesday.

The office is composed of 29 departments, including the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, the SAPPRFT and the Ministry of Public Security.

Most of the suspects sought negative news about government organs or companies while posing as journalists, and then extorted money from them by threatening to publicize the news, the office said.

Some even created illegal websites or magazines to solicit advertisement business and sold fake ad space.

In one case in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, a man surnamed Zhong employed more than 20 people and gave them counterfeit press cards. Zhong led them to defraud grassroots government organs and companies in 20 instances through extortion and the threat of media exposure. He also sold fake press cards to others at a price of 3,600 yuan (about 587 U.S. dollars) per card, according to the office.

Some of these people have been transfered to judicial organs while others are under further investigation by the police, said the office.

In September, a man called Yang Junlin was sentenced to 10 years in prison for pretending to be a journalist and illegally obtaining 502,000 yuan. He was also fined 100,000 yuan.

The office urged its branches in various places to strengthen cooperation with local police and press watchdogs to crack down on such fraudulent activities.