Veteran con man charged with fraud

A 60-year-old con man has been charged with fraud for swindling more than 168,000 yuan ($27,573) from a woman who believed he would marry her, Minhang district prosecutors said Wednesday.

Police arrested the suspect, surnamed Gao, in Pudong New Area on August 19 after receiving a complaint that he had tricked a woman into giving him the money, according to a press release from the Minhang District People's Prosecutor's Office.

Gao had approached the woman, who was not identified, at a public park in June, prosecutors said. He introduced himself as a divorced Chinese Canadian who owned a factory in China. After several dates, Gao told the woman that he wanted to start a relationship with her. Because she also felt lonely from time to time, she agreed, prosecutors said.

Gao used several ploys to create the impression that he was a successful businessman. During one lunch date, he showed her some foreign currency in his wallet. Several weeks after they started dating, he gave her a diamond ring that he said he bought in Hong Kong.

Eventually, Gao proposed to the woman. He said he wanted to buy an apartment in Qibao town in Minhang district. He promised to put up 600,000 yuan for the down payment, but asked the woman to pay a 200,000-yuan deposit so the apartment could be registered under her name. In August, she withdrew 168,000 yuan to give to Gao. At the same time, Gao gave her a bag of cash for safekeeping. He said the bag contained 60,000 euros ($81,224).

Later that day, Gao disappeared with the woman's money, prosecutors said.

After she realized what Gao had done, the woman went home to check the bag he left with her. She discovered it was full of "ghost money," the paper bills that Chinese traditionally burn for the dead. She also found out that the diamond ring was fake.

After police arrested Gao, they found out he had a lengthy criminal record.

Gao had spent six months in jail for fraud from 2000 to 2001. He was sentenced to eight months in jail for the same crime in November 2004.