Man jailed for robbing loan shark

Shanghai's Yangpu District People's Court sentenced a man to 11 years in prison for robbing a loan shark, the court said Thursday.

In November 2010, one of the defendants, whom the court called Ni Ming, borrowed 112,000 yuan from a man called Zhang Huai, who often lent out money on a short-term basis, according to a press release from the court.

Ni promised to repay the money within one month and wrote Zhang an IOU for 150,000 yuan to cover the principal and the interest that Zhang demanded in advance for the loan. Zhang spent three months trying to get the money back, but Ni seemed like he had no means to repay it.

In April 2011, Zhang went to see Ni with two friends in another attempt to get back his money. They persuaded Ni to take them to his ex-wife's home, presumably to try to get her to pay back some of the debt. The ex-wife refused.

During the visit, however, she called Ni's friend, whom the court called A Nan, to come over. A Nan brought three other men with him and together they attacked Zhang and his friends with wrenches.

Ni and A Nan then took Zhang and his friends to a hotel, where A Nan and his friend forced Zhang to write an IOU for 300,000 yuan, the court said. A Nan and his friend also stole 2,000 yuan in cash from Zhang and took his car, which they said would serve as collateral for the conjured loan.

Police caught Ni in May 2011. A Nan gave himself up in August, and was sentenced to nine years in prison in October 2012.