Stolen property of 16 gold bars, 2.3 million yuan and $670,000 retrieved

Stolen property including 16 gold bars and more than 2.3 million yuan and $670,000 in cash was recovered on Thursday by Haidian police in Beijing, according to Beijing Evening News on Friday.

Four suspects were arrested within 90 hours after a man reported the property stolen, said police in Haidian district.

The case has set a record for the quantity and sum of money and gold, police said.

The man who reported the property stolen, Li Qiang (alias), called police on July 8 when he discovered the gold and cash had been taken from his basement in an upscale neighborhood near Yuanda Road in Haidian district, Beijing, the report said.

He said that his family had stored cash, gold and other valuable belongings in their basement since 2015.

They had over the past two years stored more than five million yuan in several cartons sealed with adhesive tape and stacked these packages in a corner.

The dollars were wrapped in a bundle of $100,000 with newspaper and stored in a separate carton.

The 16 gold bars weighing one kilogram each were put in two shoeboxes sealed with adhesive tape and placed on an iron stand.

The family last went into the basement in May to store a suitcase. When Li went to take money on July 8, he discovered the theft.

Police found the suspects after checking surveillance videos near the victim's home.

The suspects are a 34-year-old man surnamed Li who had fled to his hometown Tangshan, Hebei province, a 36-year-old man surnamed Wang and a 33-year-old woman surnamed Liang.

The three suspects were arrested in Tangshan by a task force with help from local police on July 12, 90 hours after Li reported the crime.

Police learned after interrogation that the stolen items were hidden in suspects' Li and Liang's mothers' houses.

Li confessed to his theft at trial, adding that on June 19 he drove into the victim's neighborhood to look for targets.

When he found the cash and gold in the basement, he contacted his friend Wang and transported the stolen goods to Tangshan in two separate trips.

The suspects Li and Wang have been detained by Haidian police for suspected larceny.

The suspect Liang and her mother, Tian, have been detained for concealing the crime and income from such.

The case is under further review.

Ye Qian in Beijing contributed to this story.