Murdered Chinese couple's betting scam link
Aug 14 2008 By Paul James
THE male victim of Newcastle's Chinese double murder may have been involved in an international internet betting scam, it has been claimed.
Zhen Xing Yang placed adverts on UK-based mandarin-language websites, recruiting people to watch football matches around the world for around 100 US Dollars a match.
He wrote: "It is a very simple job, any student who is interested, please contact Zhenxing Yang" before listing an email address.
An ad posted under the name CICI_UK, his girlfriend Xi Zhou's nickname, on the powerappple website last October said: "Work: watch football games and send live information to people.
"Requirement: Basic understanding of football rules, no professional background needed, advantage if you have a car.
"Location: Sheffield, London, Blackpool, Portsmouth, York, Hull and many other places."
And in December he appealed for people in South America to do similar.
Even under-18 games needed to be covered, with spotters required at "all major English city's team, Championship and Premier leagues".
On January 5 2007 he posted on a Mandarin-language site: "Anyone want a $50/hr job?
"UK-based football 'information' company looking for live information from the Mexican League.
"As the Mexican League is held in the USA and some of the matches are held in LA’s Home Depot Center, we need two people to send live information."
One theory on the internet forums is that football matches shown on TV in China were a minute behind the live action in the stadium, so gambling syndicates would place employees at games to gain an advantage over people following the action on television.
Internet rumour was that Mr Yang was an agent, and that some of the employees were in dispute about missing payments.
A mandarin-speaker said today: "Things did not go smoothly, according to the forum, and people were not paid on time.
"Complaints were raised and some people felt they were cheated."
He said higher level agents may have conned people lower down the chain.
Police have not been able to find any occupation for Mr Yang since he completed his MA from Newcastle University in September 2006.
His girlfriend finished her MA at the same time and worked as a waitress in Newcastle's Wagamama restaurant.
Other allegations about the couple's background on the net included posts saying they sold fake university degrees and international driving licences.
Others claimed the couple ran a group purchase scheme to buy products more cheaply, but then failed to hand over the goods or return the money.
But some internet users have paid tribute on line to the victims, who were very much in love.
See tomorrow's Journal for the results of our three-day investigation into the internet allegations.
A Northumbria Police spokesman said: "We continue to look into the lifestyle of both victims and internet websites form part of this investigation.
"We cannot comment further at this stage."
