A 39-year-old man surnamed Liu was sentenced to 13 years in prison by a court in Ziyang City, Sichuan Province, for defrauding more than 20 people, including his six wives, out of 2 million CNY (approximately 7.3 billion VND), SCMP reported on 2/8.
Between 2009 and 2024, Liu married and divorced six different women. Each marriage lasted no more than two years, ending after he had defrauded his wife and her family of their money.
Liu cultivated the image of a wealthy entrepreneur who showered women with attention. He frequently posted photos of himself driving luxury cars on social media, which were actually rentals.
After the women agreed to date him, Liu would fabricate reasons to borrow money, such as paying employee salaries, expanding his toy store, and buying a house. He even forged medical records indicating his mother was ill to persuade girlfriends to lend him money. When the victims asked for repayment, Liu would continually stall.
"He was good at coaxing women and presented himself as a kind person. That's why I was attracted to him even though I knew he was divorced," one of Liu's ex-wives told police.
"My first impression of Liu was that he was wealthy and honest. I never thought he was a con artist. I regret lending him over 400,000 CNY," another ex-wife said.
In 2021, Liu was blacklisted by a court after an ex-girlfriend sued him for failing to repay over 320,000 CNY. Despite this, Liu still refused to return the money.
"Since then, Liu continued to borrow large sums of money from numerous individuals and never repaid them. Liu's actions were clearly intended for illegal possession, constituting fraud," police said.
Liu's scheme unraveled in late 2023 when his sixth wife, Xiaolu, reported to the police that he had borrowed 600,000 CNY from her and her family without repaying it.
The two registered their marriage in 6/2023 after just two weeks of dating. Following their marriage, Liu resorted to various tactics, including self-inflicted knife wounds, to deceive Xiaolu into giving him money.
Liu convinced Xiaolu to mortgage her apartment and then pocketed the loan. Xiaolu also quit her job at his urging, as he claimed he needed a "trustworthy" person to help manage his expanding store.
Because Liu was blacklisted by banks, he instructed Xiaolu to borrow money from online platforms. He also borrowed money from her parents and grandmother, instructing them not to tell Xiaolu because he didn't want his pregnant wife to worry.
"He tricked me out of my house and my job, and I'm pregnant. I'm carrying such a huge debt because of him that I don't want to live," Xiaolu told the police.
Liu confessed to his crimes and told investigators, "I wanted revenge on women. They are untrustworthy and too materialistic."
Tue Anh
