Ruse was uncovered when a cautious parent rang police to check the school was authentic before enrolling his daughter

They promised to turn raw recruits into skilled police officers and find them law enforcement jobs. Instead they found themselves on the wrong end of the law after being arrested for setting up a fake police academy.

Chinese officers seized 23 suspects in connection with the scheme in the eastern province of Shandong. In a country that has already seen fake boyfriends, fake foreign executives and even fake monks, perhaps the crime could have been predicted.

Police in Shouguang said Wei Zhenhai, the academy's "honorary president", had boasted to undercover officers posing as potential students that he was a ministerial-level cadre who would help graduates win jobs in the police and traffic police.

The president, Zhao Qingxin, was previously admissions director at a genuine school, but resigned and used savings of 200,000 yuan to start the fake institution. The gang claimed to be running the admissions office for the Shandong branch of the Jiamusi people's police school, based in northern Heilongjiang province.

It is not clear whether it intended to set up a campus or simply abscond with the fees, set at 11,000 yuan for the first year and 5,000 yuan in subsequent years. It had signed up four trainees when the real police pounced.

The ruse was uncovered when a cautious parent, known only as Mr Zhang, rang police to check that the school was authentic before enrolling his daughter. Its entrance requirements were unusually low, and promised diplomas or even full college degrees if students stayed for five years.

Wei, Zhao, an accountant and three men who pretended to be police instructors have been detained on suspicion of obtaining money by false pretences. Another 17 suspects have been placed under administrative detention, Shouguang public security said.