A Munich court sentenced a Chinese student to 11 years and three months in prison on April 14, 2026, following convictions for attempted murder and aggravated rape. The case has drawn attention to a coordinated criminal network that targeted women through the use of sedatives, while sparking public debate over the academic credentials and funding of the perpetrators.
The defendant, 28-year-old Zhongyi J*, was found guilty of seven counts of aggravated rape and two counts of attempted murder. According to court proceedings, Zhongyi J* administered life-threatening doses of anaesthetics and sedatives to a neighbor at least seven times between February and December 2024.
The judge presiding over the case described the crimes as monstrous acts
and noted that the proceedings had entered uncharted legal territory
.
The conviction is part of a larger investigation into a Telegram chat group known as the German Driving School
. This group consisted of eight men, all but one of whom are Chinese nationals and all but one of whom reside in Germany.
Investigations revealed that the members of the group used the encrypted platform to coordinate assaults and share evidence of their crimes. The men utilized a specific system of code words to communicate their activities and target victims:
Looking for a car
was used to describe the search for a new victim.Oil
orfuel
referred to the sedatives used to incapacitate women.Luxury car
was a term used to identify an especially attractive woman.Dead pigs
referred to women who had been successfully sedated.
The members of the group also shared photographs and recordings of the assaults within the chat. The victims identified in the investigation were almost exclusively Chinese women who were partners, colleagues, friends, or acquaintances of the men. Many of the victims remained unaware of the assaults until they were contacted by police.
The case has intersected with broader concerns regarding the professional and academic backgrounds of the accused. Public reactions have highlighted that some of the individuals involved in such cases possess elite academic credentials, including master’s and doctoral degrees from prestigious institutions.
Criticism has specifically targeted the use of public resources, with allegations that some of these students utilized national scholarships and taxpayer-funded grants to support their residency in Germany while engaging in criminal activity.
The legal proceedings in Munich reflect a broader effort by German authorities to dismantle the German Driving School
network and provide justice for the victims of these organized assaults.