5 held in China on charges of fabricating rumours

Chinese authorities have arrested five men on charges of fabricating online rumours, blackmail and posing themselves as press reporters in China's central Hunan Province, media reported.
The victims include cadres and staff from enterprises and public institutions in more than 10 provinces and cities, involving millions of yuan, the Hengyang city procuratorate said.
Ge Qiwei, head of the gang, whose original name was Zhou Bo, falsely claimed himself as a news reporter and blackmailed cadres with negative news, state-run Xinhua news agency quoted the procuratorate as saying.
He also fabricated and spread rumours to create troubles, which has severely smeared the image of local governments and disturbed social order, the procuratorate said.

Ge confessed to the crime and wrote in an online letter of remorse that "the irresponsible spreading of information has brought extreme negative effects to the society.