(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-02-21 15:29

SHANGHAI  -- A man was sentenced to a five-year jail term in Shanghai for attempted extortion of two supermarkets, said local sources.

The People's Court of Xuhui district heard on Wednesday that Fan Mingshui, 38, opened a bank account in Shandong Province and bought two mobile phone numbers using a stranger's lost ID card.

Fan phoned two supermarkets last September, one in Dalian in the northeastern Liaoning Province and another in Shanghai, and threatened to set off explosions or contaminate food. He demanded 580,000 yuan (about 81,690 US dollars) and 100,000 yuan, respectively, from the markets.

Fan was apprehended in Shandong last October.

The court ruled that although Fan's extortion attempt failed, the large amount he sought constituted a violation of the Criminal Law.

It was Fan's third conviction: he had been jailed twice previously for theft and robbery.