International
oi-Zainab Ashraf
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.
