Top Chinese Lawyer Arrested For Stealing Temple Donations Using QR Code
Top Chinese lawyer Arrested For Stealing temple Donations Using QR Code
A prominent lawyer has been arrested in china for embezzling donations from Buddhist temples across several provinces by altering QR codes on receipts to redirect funds to his own account. The individual, who has not been named, admitted to the police that he had stolen over 30,000 yuan (about Rs 3.5 lakh) from temples in Sichuan, Chongqing, and Shaanxi this year, according to the beijing Youth Daily. He is believed to hold a master’s degree in law from a leading Chinese university. The case was uncovered after police in Shaanxi released footage of him at the Famen temple in Baoji this month.
Security camera footage from the temple shows the man kneeling before a buddha statue near the donation box, alongside other visitors. He then places a slip of paper with his personal QR code over the temple’s code on the box. After bowing in prayer, he places a banknote—its amount unspecified—into the box before leaving. Upon arrest, he confessed to using the same method to steal from other Buddhist temples. police have reported that all the stolen money has been recovered.
The case has sparked considerable online attention, with 6.1 million views on Douyin alone. One observer commented, “A Chinese proverb used to say there’s a deity above us, so we shouldn’t do bad things. Now it should be updated to say there’s a surveillance camera above us.” Another remarked, “He’s studying law but still breaks it.” Theft from Buddhist temples is a recurring issue in China; for example, in July, a man in Jiangxi was arrested for repeatedly breaking into a temple’s donation box, and last year in Shanghai, a man stole from a Buddhist nunnery’s donation box, claiming he had Buddha’s permission.
Additionally, a UK company is alerting drivers to a scam involving QR codes on parking meters. The RAC has reported a surge in "quishing"—QR phishing—where fake QR codes on parking meters direct users to fraudulent websites that mimic official payment sites. Victims end up giving away their credit card details, which are then used to withdraw money from their accounts. This scam has been detected in various UK boroughs, and most councils have stated that they do not typically use QR codes for parking payments, according to The Guardian.