In China, the haves do not have to actually do the time — that is if they can pony up for a look-like.
According to Slate.com’s exposé, if wealthy and powerful criminals are willing to “…spend some money, [they] remain free,” noted a Chinese anonymous police officer.
The cost of a ‘replacement convict’ or ding zui seems to vary, one man paid $8000 for a ‘body double’ after a hit-and-run that killed a pedestrian while another agreed to pay $31 for each day behind bars to his ‘stand in’ after his company illegally demolished a home. Off the Great Wall’s clip shows how different a ‘substitue’ looks from the actual criminal.
This is not a new trend for the über-rich in China, it has been traced back to the 1800s when a ‘replacement convict’ cost £17, an estimated $2000 today.