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An Anonymous Coward writes:

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/10/22/asia/china-jails-men-outsource-murder-plot-intl-hnk/index.html

A Chinese court has sentenced six men over their part in a botched attempt to "outsource" a contract killing through an elaborate chain of intermediaries.

The men were charged with intentional homicide and received prison sentences of up to five years in Guangxi province on October 17, according to a verdict posted by the court online.

The murky case, which some in China have viewed as something of a parable of modern life and the dangers of corruption, began when real estate developer Tan Youhui contacted an alleged hitman in October 2013, with a request to kill a business competitor, surnamed Wei.

The hired man, Xi Guangan, received two million Chinese yuan ($282,600) to kill Wei, who had filed a lawsuit against Tan's company over a dispute arising from a development project, the court said.

Xi took the money and outsourced the job to another would-be hitman, Mo Tianxiang, while keeping half of the initial amount.

[...] The chain of outsourcing continued for over six months until the job reached a fifth person, Ling Xiansi. By that point, Ling was offered just 100,000 yuan ($14,100) to murder Wei, the court said.

Ling also got cold feet. But rather than killing Wei or finding another supposed hitman, he met with the intended target directly -- and offered to help fake his death.

[...] Ling later reported his "success" up the chain, all the way to Tan -- the original contractor. Wei meanwhile also reported the case to the police, who charged Tan and the five middlemen for intentional homicide.

Tan received a five-year jail term for initiating the murder plot, while the would-be hitmen received prison sentences between two to four years, according to the verdict.

I don't suppose it's possible to outsource serving time in prison?

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