Nearly 400 petitioners gathered at the Beijing municipal government's office of letters and visits Wednesday to voice complaint on their financial losses to to an illegal fund-raising scheme.

The police department told Xinhua that petitioners with other requests also gathered at the office Wednesday morning. They all left voluntarily one after another after persuasions by the office staff by noon.

The protest was peaceful with no clashes, a police officer told Xinhua.

(Xinhua News Agency November 20, 2008)