Two residents of a Jing'an district residential community built in the 1920s hold up a silk banner Sunday to thank the government officials who helped them relocate. Photo: Yang Hui/GT

A local procuratorate in Beijing approved Thursday the arrest of a swindler after he was detained when he sent banners to a local police station to thank them for detaining people who had beaten his relatives.

The swindler, surnamed Liu, recently sent two banners, each with the words "fair law enforcement, warm-hearted for the people," "devoted to duty, serving the people," to a police station in Fangshan district to show his appreciation, the Beijing Evening News reported on Friday.

However, Liu did not expect the police to recognize him and have evidence of his swindling. 

A recycler surnamed Sun who collected scrap reported to the police that he had been defrauded by Liu, who lied that he was a construction site chief and could send him steel products after Sun transferred a deposit to him. In fact, Liu was a security guard at the site.

"When we handcuffed Liu, he asked, 'I'm here to present you with a banner. How can you detain me?'" said the police.

"We can't let you off just because you gave us a banner," the police replied.

After the police detained him, they received another report from a woman who said she had been defrauded by Liu, who claimed he could teach her how to drive. 

Beijing Evening News