Deposits In, Illegal Loans Out

The phone rang late July 19 at the home of Zhang Fenghuai, president of the Bank of China's Inner Mongolia Branch, and his wife answered.

A voice on the phone told her that a deliveryman with a package was standing outside the front door of their Hohhot home, waiting.

She went to the door. Then she disappeared.

Zhang soon received a bizarre demand from his wife's kidnappers: He was told to pay a 200 million yuan ransom to win her release or, alternatively, rehire for three months three ex-employees who'd been sacked by his Hohhot bank.

The drama ended the next day when police rescued Zhang's wife and made five arrests. Among those charged was a woman named Tu Ya, the alleged leader of the kidnapping ring.