6 people died of illness, 10 people were raped, more than 4,000 people were mentally controlled... The police cracked the "Soul Tea Bar" case

On the surface, it is an ordinary tea bar, setting up tea cases, hanging calligraphy and paintings, and decorating antiques, but in fact, it is a pyramid scheme den, selling the so-called "divine tea" and "Fumi" at a high price. The Public Security Bureau of Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province, recently cracked a pyramid scheme case involving Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and the main suspect was suspected of mental control of more than 4,000 people, cheating money and defrauding people.

A few days ago, the Wuxi Municipal Public Security Organs have transferred the case to the procuratorial organs.

Defrauded of more than 16 million yuan

He raped 10 women and seriously died of illness and 6

Two years after joining the "Soul Tea Bar", Ms. Zhang, a resident of Liangxi District of Wuxi City, was defrauded of more than 100,000 yuan. Among them, the monthly donation of more than 1,000 yuan to the "master" is used to fund the illusory "Hope Primary School"; to pay 20,000 yuan for the deep cultivation of the "master" in the mountains; and to buy rose wine and bamboo barrel wine that "master" has "blessed" for a long time...

In July 2019, Ms. Zhang, who was suffering from cancer, was weak and had a hard time coughing. At this time, there are "well-meaning people" who introduce "spiritual tea bars" and there are "divine doctors" who can cure their diseases.

After registering to join the "Soul Tea Bar", Ms. Zhang paid 1200 yuan for the "carved merit monument". The tea bar "Divine Doctor" took a pulse for Ms. Zhang and prescribed medicine, which was still the medicine she had taken in the past, but the dose was more than 10 times.

Ms. Zhang took the medicine according to the prescription, the cough was really good, and since then she has been convinced of "Master" and participated in various training and training activities organized by the tea bar as a "volunteer".

In July 2021, the "Soul Tea Bar" case was broken, and 7 main suspects such as "Divine Doctor" Zhang Mou were arrested. Police investigations show that since 2017, Zhang has used 12 "soul tea bars" in 3 places in Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang as a base to attract and control more than 4,000 people, and also set up two "training bases" in Guangde, Anhui Province, named "Mountain Villa" and "Jing Humble Hall" respectively.

"'Tea Bar for the Soul' sounds elegant, but there is sin behind it." Wuxi Municipal Public Security Bureau police officers handling the case said.

According to the police, the personnel attracted by this organization are mainly middle-aged and elderly women, of which most of them are boss ladies and sick women with better economic conditions, most of them are not of high education level, and there are a small number of men and young women.

It was preliminarily ascertained that the criminal suspect had defrauded more than 16 million yuan by means of "voluntary donations", or by taking a pulse to consult, selling "Fumi" and "medicinal liquor", and eliminating karmic obstacles. Rape of 10 women under the pretext of testing loyalty and curing diseases. The victim was persuaded to drink only "divine tea" and not to take medicine, resulting in the aggravation of 6 people's illness and death, and 1 person committed suicide by jumping off a building after mental disorder after training.

Fictional "superpowers" deceive people

"Fumi" sells for 100 yuan per kilogram of less than 14 yuan

The police investigation found that the internal level of the "Soul Tea Bar" is clear: the first layer is Zhang Mou, and the believers are called "Master"; the second layer is Zhang Mou's "disciple" Ji Mou, who is also Zhang Mou's spokesman, managing the entire "Soul Tea Bar"; the third layer is the tea bar management and inspection personnel; the fourth layer is the person in charge of the tea bar branch; and the fifth layer is the tea bar "volunteer".

Joining the "Soul Tea Bar" requires insider introduction, and after drinking tea, talking, information registration and other processes, he is encouraged to go to the "Mountain Villa" to participate in a three-day "farm activity" and undergo brainwashing. After passing the further screening, participate in the 6-day deep meditation activity of "Jing Humble Hall".

The police handling the case told reporters that deep repair is a cover, and fraud and wealth are the truth. Most of these "spiritual pyramid schemes" use "spiritual training" and "leadership training" as a pretext to carry out mind control in various ways such as psychological suggestion and hypnotic brainwashing, and to continuously develop new trainees through victims.

Police investigations show that "divine doctor" Zhang Mou was originally a vendor selling fruit at a stall and had no medical background at all. Zhang was born in 1966, and the fake ID card he made changed the year of birth to 1932. With this false testimony, he claimed to have "superpowers" and could "rejuvenate."

The reporter saw in the evidence displayed by the police that the suspect Zhang Mou also forged a large number of certificates and fabricated many titles to deceive trust, such as the "authoritative expert certificate" in the field of traditional Chinese medicine gynecology, the honorary certificate of "Winning in China and China's Top Ten Influential People advancing with the times", the certificate of "special government allowance", the "visiting professor of the president class of Peking University" and so on.

This is a imposition photo, all of which are fake certificates made by the suspects. Courtesy of Wuxi Municipal Public Security Bureau

Zhang also used a variety of means to brainwash the victims. The "Soul Tea Bar" often asks the victims to write about their experiences, indicating that they must fully trust the "Master"; every time they gather for training, they must share the "superpowers" and "magical medical skills" of the "Master"; sooner or later, they must greet the "Master" to turn on the "switch to receive energy"; during the journey and before the dinner, they must sing "I Love You Master".

"Soul Tea Bar" organized the scene of the event. Courtesy of Wuxi Municipal Public Security Bureau

After brainwashing, Zhang defrauded the wealth in a variety of ways. According to the account books seized by the Wuxi police, Zhang Mou made more than 4.442 million yuan in some of the victims in Wuxi and Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, through the opening of the pulse, selling "Fumi" and "energy meals" to believers, as well as the wine and tea he had "blessed". The so-called "Fumi", the actual purchase price of 13.88 yuan / catty, but the price is as high as 100 yuan / catty.

Similar cases have been found in many places

The MLM method is more concealed

Yuan Dafei, deputy director of the Xishan Branch of the Wuxi Municipal Public Security Bureau, said that since 2020, only One place in Wuxi has found and cracked 3 similar cases, and the number of people involved in each case is more than 1,000 people. The reporter searched on the Internet and found that similar cases had also been found in Shenzhen, Shenyang, Xi'an and other places.

According to the Wuxi police, most of these MLM organizations target groups with certain economic strength, but encounter problems in marriage, health, and children's education. Because of the large number of groups it encircles, the mental control is stronger, and the harm to society is also greater.

The police handling the case told reporters that the facts of this case are more complicated, and it is currently found that a variety of crimes involving fraud are currently identified. In order to evade the police crackdown, these MLM organizations have also changed some of the past practices, such as separating the pulling of people's heads from the sales of products, the tea bar does not store any MLM products, ledger information, only for believers to drink tea and talk for free; training activities are carried out across provinces, under the guise of tourism and leisure, and even hidden in the mountains. For example, the "Soul Tea Bar" is used for deep cultivation, "Jing Humble Hall", located in the deep mountains of Anhui, which is adjacent to Jiangsu, and there are no villagers nearby, which is an independent hidden place.

The Wuxi police believe that to strictly investigate and crack down on "spiritual pyramid schemes", it is necessary to go deep into the community to publicize them so that the masses are widely aware of their harm. Relevant departments should also promptly investigate and effectively handle such clues in daily supervision and effectively link with local public security.

This article is reproduced from the Xinhua News Agency client, source: Xinhua Viewpoint

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