Con man works magic on local woman

A Liaoning province man has been charged with raping a Shanghai woman and conning her out of 160,000 yuan ($26,353) by convincing her that he had supernatural powers, local media reported Sunday.

The victim, surnamed Lin, sought help from the suspect to improve her relationship with her husband after their marriage turned frosty, the Shanghai Morning Post reported.

Lin met the suspect, a 29-year-old man surnamed Li, at the end of May after she ran across his online store on taobao.com, the report said. Li claimed he possessed magical powers that he could use to help people improve their relationships and change their fates. Lin initially paid him 2,997 yuan for his services.

Her faith impressed even Li, who turned his mind to how he could extract more money from her, the report said.

Li told the woman that because she paid for black magic, she dealt with a demon and needed his personal protection to prevent her from coming in contact with it. Li convinced her to buy him a plane ticket to Shanghai so that he could protect her from the demon, the report said. Lin also booked Li a room at a hotel in Pudong New Area because he said he needed a private place to work his magic.

Li arrived in Shanghai in June. At the hotel, he told Lin that she needed to have sex with him to offset the effects of the black magic. She obeyed out of fear. For this additional service, she paid him another 20,000 yuan.

After Li returned to Liaoning province, he continued to work on Lin. He convinced her that he was dying from the effects of the black magic and requested another 600,000 yuan, claiming she would die if she didn't pay up, the report said.

Lin paid 140,000 yuan, but grew suspicious. Later, she somehow contacted several of Li's former customers, who told her he was a fraud. She then called the police.

The Pudong New Area People's Prosecutor's Office charged Li with rape and fraud.