Biz Unusual

Man who withdrew cash from broken ATM released

By Hu Yongqi (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-07-31 08:06

Xu Ting (middle) is spotted on a Guangzhou street on Friday morning after he was released from prison on parole. [Photo from Yangcheng Evening News]

Sentenced to five years in 2008, Xu Ting now out of jail on parole

Beijing - A man who was sentenced to five years in jail in 2008 for withdrawing 175,000 yuan ($25,735) from a malfunctioning ATM was released on parole on Friday.

Xu Ting stepped out of a prison in Foshan's Gaoming district, Guangdong province, around 9 am on Friday. A friend, who once served time with Xu, was waiting outside to receive Xu and gave him a ride to the provincial capital of Guangzhou, where he bought some shoes and clothes.

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Xu plans to return to his home in Shanxi province on Sunday.

"His behavior in prison was very good and the authorities had shortened his sentence to four years," said Guo Xiangdong, Xu's lawyer.

Guo maintained his client should not have been imprisoned in the first place for accepting cash from an ATM that had malfunctioned.

In April 2006, Xu, then a security guard, was drawing cash from an ATM in Guangzhou when he realized the machine only deducted 1 yuan from his account for every 1,000 yuan he withdrew.

After consulting with a friend named Guo Anshan, Xu subsequently withdrew 175,000 yuan in 171 transactions, while Guo withdrew 18,000 yuan.

Guo was jailed for a year after he turned himself in, while Xu dodged the police for more than a year before being captured on July 11, 2007.

The Intermediate People's Court of Guangzhou sentenced Xu to life in jail in November after finding him guilty of theft. Xu appealed to the Guangdong High Court, which then ordered a retrial.

In late March 2008, the Intermediate People's Court of Guangzhou convicted Xu of theft, but reduced his life sentence to five years. The court also fined Xu 20,000 yuan and demanded he return all of the 175,000 yuan he withdrew from the ATM to the bank.

Xu appealed the verdict once again, but his appeal was rejected.

Xu's father, Xu Cailang, who does not think his son deserved to be in jail for so long, said: "It will be good to have my son home after so many years."

He added that the family will have a quiet dinner together when Xu returns home on Sunday.