After a trial, a 40-year-old woman from Shanghai, whose surname is Meng, was sentenced to 12 years and six months in jail for orchestrating an elaborate fraud involving fake real estate deals. It involved staging a fake marriage and defrauding relatives to the tune of ₹14 crore or $1.6 million.
The Beginning of the Fraud
Meng had earlier operated a tiny real estate firm, which was severely affected by its collapse. In a final attempt to mend her financial mess, she cooked up a plot to swindle her family. The idea would be to deceive them that she had inside information on some deals involving high-profile real estate business.
Fake Wedding
In order to make her story believable, Meng required an accomplice. She met a driver, identified by his surname Jiang, by hitchhiking, and offered him a fake marriage. Claiming that her parents were pressuring her to get married due to her age, she convinced Jiang to participate in a staged wedding ceremony.
Deceiving Her Relatives
After the fake wedding, Meng formally introduced Jiang to her family as a rich businessman involved in some of the major infrastructure projects. She was telling them that the industry connections he could provide would help them purchase the property at significantly reduced prices.
For that, she bought a small flat worth ₹1.2 crore ($137,000) and sold it to one of her cousins at half the price. She then directed the cousin to tell everyone that he had gotten the discount because of Meng and Jiang’s influence.
The Elaborate Real Estate Scam
Meng expanded the scheme by taking her relatives to showrooms of new residential buildings, promising that she could secure lower prices for them. She claimed that she could arrange a discount of ₹61,000 ($700) per square meter.
Convinced by such claims at least five relatives offered her large sums of money to seek the discounted properties. Some even sold their existing homes in hopes that they would move into better apartments.
However, instead of delivering the promised properties, Meng delayed the transactions for years. To maintain the illusion, she rented flats and convinced her relatives that they were the homes they had purchased.
The Scam Unravels
One of the family members became suspicious due to continuous delays and sought to confirm the information with the real estate developers. After conducting an investigation, they found that Meng did not own the properties and that the whole scam was a fraud.
The authorities were informed, and an official investigation was conducted. It was found that the apartment where Meng was residing was not hers. This led to her arrest and trial.
Legal Implications
Meng was found guilty of contract fraud and sentenced to 12 years and six months in prison. Jiang, the fake husband, was also convicted for his role in the scam and received a six-year prison sentence.
Additionally, the cousin who knowingly helped deceive other relatives by falsely testifying about his property purchase was sentenced to five years in prison.
This case sets out to remind people how desperation can push individuals into extreme deception. The highly crafted con of Meng shows the point of due diligence, even when dealing with family members, not to become a victim of a fraudulent scam.