Shanghai Woman Sentenced to 12.5 Years for Fake Marriage Scam Worth $1.6 Million

Shanghai Woman’s Deceptive Scheme to Defraud Relatives of $1.6 Million Unraveled**

Beijing (Daily Pakistan Online) – A 40-year-old woman, Meng, from Shanghai has been sentenced to 12 years and six months in prison for orchestrating a fake marriage scam that defrauded her relatives of a staggering $1.6 million (approximately 45 crore rupees).

According to the South China Morning Post, Meng ran a small real estate agency that faced financial losses. To recover the losses, she devised a deceptive plan. She convinced a local driver, Jiang, to marry her under the pretext that her parents were pressuring her to do so. After the marriage, Meng introduced Jiang to her relatives as a wealthy real estate businessman, claiming he was involved in large infrastructure projects. She promised them that through his connections, they could purchase flats at discounted prices.

To make the lie more convincing, Meng bought a small flat and sold it to her cousin at half the market price. She then told her cousin to spread the word that the special discount was due to her and Jiang’s generosity. Meng also showed her relatives model flats from new residential schemes and assured them she could secure them at lower-than-market rates. As a result, at least five relatives handed over their savings to Meng, with some even selling their old properties to buy new ones.

For years, Meng continued to make excuses about issues in securing the discounted flats. She even rented flats for her relatives, convincing them that these were the properties they had purchased. The scam was exposed when one relative became suspicious and contacted the actual property developer, revealing the truth. Investigations showed that Meng did not own any property, and Jiang was not a businessman.

The court sentenced Meng to 12.5 years in prison for fraud. Jiang, her fake husband, was sentenced to six years for signing rental agreements on her behalf. Meng’s cousin, who misled the other relatives, received a five-year prison sentence.