KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 23 — In an almost a cartoonish plot, six men were jailed in China when an assassination plan fell apart. The hired muscle kept passing on the job — with the final “killer” orchestrating a fake death with the intended victim.
In 2013, Tan Youhui hired a hitman to take out a man identified as only “Wei,” who had taken legal action against Tan's firm, for two million yuan (RM1,183,954).
Instead of doing the job, the hired gun, Xi Guangan, hired Mo Tianxiang for the deed, paying him half the amount of one million yuan (RM591,977), passing the "cost" to Tan in a renegotiated deal.
Mo then engaged Yang Kangsheng for the job, paying him 270,000 yuan (RM159,834) with a promise of another 500,000 yuan (RM295,989) upon completion of the job.
He in turn hired Yang Guangsheng for 200,000 yuan (RM118,396) to assassinate Wei, with the same bonus of 500,000 yuan (RM295,989) promised once the deed was done.
Ling Xiansi was then passed the job, for a measly 100,000 yuan (RM59,1981) for the hit.
Instead, he took the liberty to reveal the plan to the intended victim, Wei, who agreed to pose gagged and bound as “proof.”
Wei, however, then took it to the police, and the initial trial in 2016 saw the six defendants acquitted due to lack of evidence.
Prosecutors appealed and won for the case to go to trial for another three years before all six men were convicted of attempted murder by the court in Nanning, Guangxi.
Tan, who hired the original hitman, was sentenced to five years in prison, while Xi, the first hitman, was sentenced to three years and six months.
Yang Kangsheng and Yang Guangsheng were sentenced to three years and three months, Mo was sentenced to three years, and Ling was sentenced to two years and seven months.
