There were lots of men but no hits.
Six men were arrested and charged with “intentional homicide” after a hitman, who a Chinese developer hired to kill a rival, began a chain of subcontracting hitmen.
The labyrinthine case began when real estate developer Tan Youhui contacted a hitman in October 2013 and asked him to murder a rival competitor with the surname of Wei.
Xi Guangan, the first hitman, who was hired by Tan, was given $282,000 for the job. Xi then offered half of the money to another hitman, Mo Tianxiang, to carry out Wei’s murder. Instead, Mo took some of the fee and approached another man, Yang Kangsheng.
Yang was given $38,100 upfront to kill Wei with the promise of another $70,600 after the hit was carried out. Yang also took part of the cash and found a fourth man, Yang Guangsheng. The fourth man was offered $28,200 upfront and $70,600 after the death of Wei.
The six-month chain of outsourcing ended when the hit reached a fifth person, Ling Xiansi. Ling was offered $14,100 to kill Wei, but instead of carrying out the hit, Ling approached Wei, told him about the job, and offered to help him fake his death.
Wei posed for Ling, who took photos of him tied up and passed the news of Wei’s “murder” up the chain of hitmen to Tan, the developer. Wei reported the hit to police who charged all of those involved in the failed murder.
Tan received a five-year prison sentence while the middlemen received sentences between two and four years.
