Shanghai (World Desk): A Shanghai woman presented herself as a rich real estate businessman and married a man to her relatives and duped them of 12 million yuan (about $1.6 million). The woman’s name is Meng and she is 40 years old. In 2014, her small real estate agency failed, after which she hatched a plan to dupe her relatives by luring them to buy properties at cheap rates. The case was reported by Shanghai TV in January and since then the news has been in the news on social media.
Fake marriage pretense and deception
To make her relatives fall prey to her deception, Meng decided to marry a driver, whom she met during a marriage proposal. The driver’s surname was Jiang and he was already married. Meng persuaded Jiang to marry her by pretending that her parents were forcing her to marry because of her age. Jiang married Meng using a pseudonym.
Fraud with cheap flat and deception of relatives
Meng told relatives that Jiang worked in several large real estate projects and had connections that could help them buy new properties cheaply. Meng then bought a flat worth 1 million yuan (about 137,000 US dollars) and sold it to her cousin for half the price. She also lied to her relatives that the price was low because she and Jiang had connections in the real estate business.
More cases of lies and deceit
Meng also took her relatives to the showroom of a new residential complex and convinced them that she could reduce the price to 5,000 yuan (700 US dollars) per square meter, which was 20 percent less than the original price. At least five relatives fell into Meng’s trap and paid her large sums of money. Some even sold their current flats for better properties.
Late disclosure and sentence
For years, Meng evaded relatives by telling them that the exemptions would have to wait. Around 2018 and 2019, she rented flats to those relatives and lied that these were the same properties she had bought. She also did not give them a certificate of property ownership, saying “it is impossible to obtain one for exempted properties.” When one victim realized something was wrong and verified with the real estate developer, it turned out that the flat she was living in was not hers. Another victim had spent more than 100,000 yuan (US$14,000) to decorate a rented flat.
Sentence and justice
The court sentenced Meng to 12 years and 6 months in prison for fraud. Her “fake husband” Jiang received a six-year sentence because he signed a house-lease contract with the real owners of the flat. In addition, Meng’s cousin was also sentenced to five years because he lied to relatives and helped in the fraud. This case is not only a story of individual fraud, but also an example of the growing incidence of real estate fraud in China.
