Lover’s loan lands woman in jail

A corporate accountant at a foreign company has been sentenced to two years in prison for misappropriating 954,900 yuan ($156,030) from her employer to help her boyfriend pay off his supposed debts, a district  court in Shanghai said Monday.

The defendant, whom the court called Xiao Lian, was charged with embezzlement, according to a press release from Jing'an District People's Court.

Xiao Lian, who is in her 30s, met her boyfriend in June 2012 over the Internet. Within a month of meeting, he had asked her to give him money so he could repay his debts from a failed business, the court said. He promised to pay back part of the money by October.

From July to October, Xiao Lian took 954,900 yuan from her company and gave it to her boyfriend.

By October, Xiao Lian's company had almost run out of money, the court said. At the same time, her boyfriend began to distance himself from her. Unable to recover the money from her boyfriend, Xiao Lian turned herself into police on October 30, the court said.

It is not unusual for women to get swindled by new boyfriends, said Li Hongguang, a press officer for the Jing'an District People's Court. In these cases, the victims usually agree to hand over the money because of the strong feelings they harbor for their boyfriends.

After Xiao Lian was arrested, her boyfriend called her mother to admit he made a mistake asking for Xiao Lian's help. He asked the mother to help Xiao Lian repay her company so she could avoid going to prison. He then asked to borrow 1,400 yuan, claiming he was in the midst of his own legal troubles, the court said.

The boyfriend acknowledged that he knew Xiao Lian took the money to help him pay his debts, but he also said he never encouraged her to embezzle from her company. He has not been charged in the case.

Li told the Global Times there is no evidence that Xiao Lian's boyfriend persuaded her to commit the crime.

Xiao Lian has returned 320,000 yuan to the company.

The court asked Xiao Lian to repay the rest of the money she took from the company and pay an additional 33,000 yuan in restitution.