A driver in Guangzhou who was unable to pay off his credit card debts has been arrested for trying to raise funds by blackmailing a female friend with embarrassing photographs he had secretly taken in her apartment, Information Times reports.

Mr. Zhong was a private chauffeur to a female friend who would often stay out until 3 or 4 in the morning. Zhong began to get annoyed by the invonvenience this caused and he hatched a plan.

Early last year, he snuck into her apartment and hid a camera behind her fish tank. Thinking that she must be a person of high status, he thought that she would rather pay him off directly rather than get the police involved if some compromising photos came into his possession.

After acquiring the photos, Zhong claims to have had second thoughts because, by and large, his client had treated him well.

However, in January of this year, Zhong discovered that he had 3,000 yuan in credit card debt that he could not afford to pay off.

He then sent the photos to the client’s QQ inbox and initially demanded 300,000 yuan from the woman. She later negotiated the sum down to 100,000 yuan.

On January 28, she paid the first instalment of 50,000 yuan into his bank account. However, the victim later called the police and Zhong was arrested on February 1.

He is set to be tried for extortion.