Fake Husband, Fake Homes: How A Shanghai Woman’s Rs 12.8 Crore Scam Fooled Her Family

A shocking case of deception has left social media in disbelief after a 40-year-old woman from Shanghai, Meng, was found guilty of defrauding her relatives of 12 million yuan (Rs 12.8 crore). The incident, first reported by Shanghai TV in January, dates back to 2014, when Meng's small real estate business collapsed, pushing her into financial distress.

Faced with mounting debts, Meng devised a complex scheme to exploit her relatives' trust. She hitchhiked and proposed marriage to a random driver, a married man surnamed Jiang, convincing him to stage a fake wedding. She told him that her parents were pressuring her to marry due to her age. Jiang agreed, and the two held a wedding ceremony where he used a false identity, according to reports from the South China Morning Post.

The Deceptive Plan

Meng portrayed Jiang to her relatives as a wealthy real estate developer with access to exclusive property deals. To make her claims seem credible, she purchased a small flat worth one million yuan (Rs 1.07 crore) and sold it to her cousin at half the price. She then persuaded this cousin to falsely tell other relatives that he had secured the property at a steep discount due to Meng and Jiang's connections.

To further build her deception, Meng took her relatives to showrooms of new residential developments, promising them significant discounts of 5,000 yuan (Rs 53,000) per square meter-around 20 per cent below market rates. At least five relatives fell for the scam, trusting Meng with large sums of money to buy these supposedly discounted flats. Some even sold their existing homes, expecting to move into better properties.

Between 2018 and 2019, Meng rented apartments for her relatives, pretending they were the properties they had bought. When they asked for ownership documents, she brushed off their concerns, saying it was "temporarily impossible" to issue certificates for discounted properties.

The Scheme Falls Apart

The fraud came to light when one of the victims, growing suspicious, contacted the actual property developer and discovered that the flat she was living in was not registered in her name. Another victim, Meng's cousin, had spent over 100,000 yuan (Rs 1.07 lakh) decorating and furnishing a rented apartment, believing it was his own.

A court sentenced Meng to 12 years and six months in prison for contract fraud. Jiang, the fake husband, was given a six-year sentence for signing fraudulent house-leasing contracts. The cousin who assisted Meng by lying to other relatives was sentenced to five years in prison.

The case has sparked widespread discussion online, with many shocked at the extent of Meng's deceit and the trust her relatives placed in her. Authorities have urged people to remain cautious and verify property deals to avoid falling victim to similar scams.