The scandal was uncovered when two of the women, who lived in the same building, were out for a walk and both received a call from the police, informing them that their husband was under investigation. They soon realized they were married to the same man.
Nicknamed Xiaojun, the 30-year-old man in Jilin City, Jilin Province constructed a fake identity as a wealthy heir, enticing each woman with lavish promises and counterfeit luxury gifts, Shanghai Daily reported.
He fabricated a background showing his parents owned large bathhouse and construction businesses. In reality, his mother worked as a bathhouse attendant, and his father was a construction worker.
In 2019, Xiaojun met his first “wife” through an online game. To portray himself as a “wealthy young heir,” he frequently sent her photos of property certificates, luxury cars, cash, and high-end goods. They married swiftly after she became pregnant, but she soon discovered his claims of wealth were false. Instead of supporting her, Xiaojun began borrowing money, prompting her to eventually make him leave. Wanting a complete family for their child, she decided against divorce but chose to raise the child on her own.
Within a week of leaving, Xiaojun repeated his deception, meeting his second wife through an online game.
Using the same strategies, he convinced her to give him 140,000 yuan (US$19,653) under the pretense of decorating their wedding room. Believing she was marrying into wealth, she handed over her entire savings. The couple married after only two months, during which she also became pregnant. Xiaojun then rented an apartment one floor below his first wife’s, using the money to reinforce his “wealthy heir” image.
With two successful scams, Xiaojun continued using his tactics on three other women: a university student and two nurses, all of whom he met online through gaming, The Paper reported on Thursday.
For these three, he enhanced his “successful, wealthy” image by sending photos of himself in police uniform or at company meetings, giving the impression he was a police officer with influential family connections.
For one of the nurses, he claimed connections with health officials, promising to secure a better position for her at her hospital.
After gaining each woman’s trust, Xiaojun started to borrow their money, defrauding them of 15,000, 10,000, and 8,000 yuan, with promises of discounted luxury goods or urgent financial needs.
His fraud was unraveled in April 2023, when the university student wife demanded repayment of 10,000 yuan for her tuition. Xiaojun then gave her a bag that he claimed contained 100,000 yuan from someone who needed him to secure a job, asking her not to open it yet.
But when he became distant and unresponsive later, she opened the bag only to find expired massage vouchers. She reported him to the police, leading to his arrest.
The investigation revealed that Xiaojun had stolen over 280,000 yuan (US$39,300) through his fraudulent schemes.
In a recent ruling, the People’s Court of Fengman District in Jilin City sentenced Xiaojun to nine and a half years in prison, alongside fines and restitution orders for his victims.
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