Ex-Bank of Jilin Staffer Jailed Nearly 11 Years for Creating Ponzi Scheme to Fund Gambling

A court in China has sentenced a former Bank of Jilin employee to 10 years and 11 months in jail for creating a Ponzi scheme to fuel his habitual gambling.

According to the Chinese media outlet The Paper, a court in Jilin Province heard that the individual, named Zhu Shijie, fabricated a series of reverse loans to defraud several private individuals of 7.33 million yuan (approximately $1,020,600).

Banks typically issue reverse loans to homeowners based on the amount of equity their properties have.

The presiding judge also fined Zhu 100,000 yuan (approximately $14,000) after hearing that the ex-staffer had systematically stolen funds between April 2019 and October 2021.

The court heard that the ex-staffer built a Ponzi scheme, using their bank credentials, to dupe multiple individuals into joining a fake investment program.

Zhu defrauded victims, including Xu, Zhang, and Yu (given names withheld for legal reasons), all residents of Yanji, Jilin Province, promising them “high returns.”

Former Bank of Jilin Staffer Crafted Ponzi Scheme

The court saw evidence that Zhu used bogus companies, fraudulent bank transfers, and cash payments to create a veneer of authenticity.

The ex-bank staffer also used newer “investments” to pay victims who joined the bogus platform at an earlier stage.

Prosecutors explained that Zhu met some of the victims through mutual friends. Zhu then promised them all regular 2% interest payments.

Yu’s bank card statements showed that between August 17 and November 17, 2021, the victim sent Zhu a total of 4.1 million yuan in five installments. Zhu then paid Yu 100,000 yuan ($14,000) in an attempt to boost Yu’s confidence in the platform.

However, the scheme began to unravel in September 2021, when one of the victims said they wanted to withdraw their funds.

Zhu tried to claim that his bank accounts had been frozen, and the investor reported the matter to the police.

Police followed up with an investigation, discovering that the business was entirely fictional.

Furthermore, officers discovered that due to Zhu’s excessive gambling habits and debt repayments, he had no money left to repay his victims.

Failed Appeals

Police arrested Zhu at the end of 2021, and he was first tried at the Yanbian Municipal People’s Court.

The court handed him an initial 11-year sentence. Zhu appealed this verdict but failed to convince the court to significantly reduce the jail term.

Zhu launched a second appeal at Jilin Province’s Intermediate People’s Court of the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture.

But the court essentially upheld the original verdict at the end of July 2025, ordering the former employee to repay each of his victims.

The Bank of Jilin, headquartered in the provincial capital of Changchun, has been rocked by several high-profile embezzlement and bribery cases in recent years.

Several key executives have been jailed and fined for accepting bribes, with some handed sentences as long as 20 years.

Earlier this month, the UAE’s Ministry of Interior extradited a Chinese fugitive to Beijing over allegations he operated an illegal, multimillion-dollar gambling network.