323 arrested for health product fraud

BEIJING, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- Police in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality have arrested 323 suspects for posing as medical experts to sell "health products" to the elderly and patients, the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) said in a statement Sunday.

Raiding 30 sites in more than 10 provinces and cities across the country, police have rounded up 16 criminal gangs. Over 10,000 cases involving more than 10 million yuan (1.51 million U.S. dollars) have been solved by the police.

According to the statement, the suspects would pose as experts at major hospitals after illegally obtaining the information of patients, whom they would contact to brag about their "medicine with special effects."

Once the suspects gained the trust of the patients, they would cajole their targets into buying their "health products" at a price of tens of thousands of yuan, the ministry said.

The police will continue to take stronger action against such fraud to protect people's property, read the statement. It also called on the public to raise their awareness of such fraud. Enditem