A Chinese fugitive who evaded arrest for 24 years by assuming his deceased twin brother’s identity has finally been caught, after his late brother’s ex-girlfriend helped expose the deception.
In 2002, Chen was among seven suspects involved in a robbery in Yuhuan, in eastern China’s Zhejiang province, in which a victim was abducted and robbed of cash and valuables.
Police quickly arrested six suspects, but Chen escaped and remained at large. Despite extensive searches, investigators failed to locate him, and the case eventually went cold.
Five years later, police received a notice from Anhui province in central China stating that Chen’s household registration had been cancelled following his death in a traffic accident. Believing the fugitive was dead, authorities closed the case.
However, a routine review 19 years later uncovered a suspicious clue suggesting that a man in Anhui had been living under his deceased twin brother’s identity for years.
Criminal investigator Long Yuwen reopened the 2002 case file and cross-checked the suspects’ identities, hometowns and family connections, finding similarities between Chen and the man mentioned in the report.
A special task force was subsequently dispatched to Anhui to investigate.
There, Chen’s mother, sister and fellow villagers allegedly helped conceal the truth, claiming that the younger twin had died in the accident. Investigators suspected that Chen had actually assumed the identity of his older twin brother, who was the one who died.
Official records from the local household registration office, traffic police and funeral home all supported the reported death. Investigators also struggled to obtain the original accident file, leaving them with little evidence to establish the suspected identity switch.
Their breakthrough came from archived identification photographs.
Although the twins looked remarkably alike, investigators discovered that nine days after Chen was officially registered as dead in 2007, his supposed older brother had applied to change his name and submitted a new identification photograph.
The new photograph differed significantly from the earlier one in facial features, expression and other details, raising further suspicions.
When Chen’s close relatives refused to cooperate, police tracked down his older brother’s former girlfriend, Deng.
She had been discussing marriage with him before abruptly ending the relationship following the traffic accident.
After police explained the relevant laws and policies, Deng eventually confirmed that the person who died in the accident was Chen’s older brother, not the fugitive.
Police arrested Chen in June, 24 years after the robbery.
By then, he had been living a seemingly ordinary life under a new name, apparently believing that his identity-swapping scheme would remain undetected.
Chen faces a prison sentence of three to 10 years under China’s Criminal Law.
The case sparked debate online, with one commenter saying the ex-girlfriend had suffered the most, while another questioned whether Chen’s mother and sister could also face charges for allegedly harbouring a fugitive.
