A man who paid someone 5,000 yuan ($820) to break into his friend's Beijing home to steal a collection of several paintings is "deeply regretting" his actions, after discovering that the total value of the stolen art only amounts to less than half of the money he shelled out to illegally obtain the works.

The man, surnamed Wang, came up with the scheme after his friend, Zhao, bragged that his home was full of art worth hundreds of millions of yuan.

But after Wang hired someone to steal Zhao's art, he was unable to unload the stolen art before police caught up with him.

A police investigation that sought the help of a professional appraisal institution revealed that the collection was worth just a total of some 2,000 yuan - nearly 3,000 yuan less than what Wang had paid to have the works lifted from his friend's home in the first place.

Wang is due to stand trial on Wednesday at Huairou District People's Court, where he will face Zhao, who is set to testify against him - and is prepared to argue that his art is, in fact, worth as much as 400 million yuan.

Legal Mirror