By Tham Choy Lin, Bernama,
Beijing : Beijing police have detained a gang led by an advertising agency owner which used fake identity cards to buy more than 1,500 Olympic Games tickets and resell them for a 50 per cent profit, state media said.
The gang is said to have opened 920 bank accounts in Beijing and neighbouring Hebei province with stolen personal information from as many as 2,500 people and counterfeit identity cards to pay for the tickets purchased online, according to a “Beijing News” report.
The gang leader only identified as “He” had bought 1,579 tickets including 35 for the sold-out opening ceremony.
The arrest of two migrant workers on May 13 for using fake identity cards to buy tickets at a Bank of China branch led to the detention of four others including He.
It is the first Olympic scalping case uncovered and offenders face 10 to 15 days detention and a maximum 1,000 yuan, the daily said. (RM1=2.1 yuan). It was reported that scalpers may be sent to labour camp.
Meanwhile, an additional 60,000 tickets for the equestrian event in Hong Kong will go on sale from Thursday.
Hong Kong had asked the Games organisers to add more tickets after two earlier phases were sold out, Beijing News said.