Fifty-three cars worth 43 million yuan (US$5.2 million) were stolen in Beijing and Tianjin from 1999 to 2001 by eight suspects, according to the bill of indictment by the second branch of the Beijing People's Procuratorates.

The eight-member gang, with 36-year-old Yang Runde as its leader, was arrested by the Dongcheng branch of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Public Security in March last year.

They were accused of committing theft, pillaging and disposing of stolen goods.

No judgment was made Sunday after a two-day hearing.

The stolen cars were mainly foreign brand names including Honda, Lexus and Toyota, said procuratorate officials.

Using a special key and spanner, Yang and his followers stole dozens of cars at hotels, office buildings, restaurants and department stores parking lots.

Yang said in court that they bought the key for 100,000 yuan (US$12,100) from car repairer Ouyang Yunfei, who had been sentenced to prison earlier.

"We would decide which one to steal after driving around in Beijing to see which car did not have an alarm and burglar-proof lock," Yang said in court.

The suspect said he would prepare whole sets of purchase document and change the engine number of the cars before selling them.

Only small amounts of money was seized by police, while most had already been spent by the eight suspects, said the public prosecutor.

"I cannot remember how much I earned from the business," Yang said, noting he received half the profits, or about 65,000 yuan (US$7,840) to 75,000 yuan (US$9,050) per car.

(China Daily April 29, 2002)