Shuangfeng, a rural county in Hunan China, previously known for being the
“capital of fake IDs”, has made a new name for itself by blackmailing
officials with fake photos showing them engaging in scandalous sex acts.
Searching through a court database using the key words PS (Photoshop), blackmail and composite (composite images), The Paper
found 70 related cases from 2009 to 2016, involving 331 victims and a
total demanded sum of 700 million RMB. Of the 129 arrested for
blackmailing, 62 came from Shuangfeng.
According to the Chongqing Morning Post,
Shuangfeng County has been criticized five times by the Ministry of
Public Security since 2009 for the rampant criminal activities that take
place there, with crimes ranging from text message scams to fake ID
distributions. In the years 2013 and 2015, the county was pinpointed as
the hotbed for Photoshop blackmailers.
In Shuangfeng, authorities put up banners, bills and billboards
telling the local population that they are determined to crack down on Photoshop blackmailing.
Of the 331 victims, 78 agreed to pay up, most of them high-level
officials in the government or state-owned enterprises. One of the
victims is Geng Mingsheng — the president of a district court in the
capital of Hunan Province — who wired the blackmailers 520,000 RMB in
2013.
Geng told The Paper
that despite being fully aware the photos were fake, he complied with
the blackmailers in order to avoid the trouble that it would take to
clear his name once rumors started to spread. Another reason to wire the
money was to let the blackmailers complete their crime, so they could
be held liable for more serious charges.
Although the photos were fakes and the criminals were caught, damage
was still done to Geng’s reputation. His very willingness to hand over
such a large sum of money raised suspicion. After all, what if the
blackmailers ended up getting away with his 520,000 RMB?
Many netizens commented that officials who have nothing to cover up
would have no reason to be afraid of blackmailers, hence suspecting that
Geng might have a guilty conscience after all. Geng told The Paper that
he has been subject to investigation as well, because of the case.
The party requires officials to keep an appearance of decency and many officials have been suspended for sex scandals. A well-known case is that of Chongqing official Lei Zhengfu in 2012, whose sex tape first led to his dismissal and then a 13-year sentence after an investigation led to police learning about all the bribes he had taken.