A 22-year-old man, Zheming Zhang, has been charged with impersonating a police officer and unlawful imprisonment in connection with the alleged virtual kidnapping of a woman in the ACT.
According to police, Zhang contacted the victim, an international student living in Canberra, in August last year. He posed as a Chinese police officer claiming to investigate her for money laundering.
Police allege that the victim was pressured into silence and ultimately convinced to check into a hotel room, where Zhang arrived and placed her “under arrest.”
He demanded “bail” payments from her, which she paid immediately, along with additional payments in the following weeks.
The victim was then coerced into surrendering her phone and social media accounts, as well as booking another hotel.
Zhang allegedly contacted her family overseas, asserting that she had been kidnapped and demanding a ransom.
The woman’s friends and family reported her missing to ACT police, who subsequently located her in a hotel in Belconnen.
Authorities used CCTV footage to identify Zhang and tracked him to an address in Queensland, where he was arrested.
Today, he was charged with one count of unlawfully confining a person and one count of impersonating a police officer.
His lawyer, Tom Taylor, requested an adjournment and indicated he would apply for bail later this week.
Zhang did not enter any pleas and has been remanded in custody, with a court return scheduled for Friday.