Would-be pop star facing trial for fraud

A pop star wannabe who allegedly claimed to have lots of masks for sale and cheated a buyer out of more than 110,000 yuan (US$15,675) was charged with fraud by prosecutors in the Pudong New Area on Tuesday.

Huang Zhibo had a contract with Yue Hua Entertainment, a company creating Chinese pop idols. After he was detained by police, the entertainment firm announced it had terminate its contract with Huang.

Pudong New Area People's Procuratorate said Huang posted fake information about online mask sales online on January 30. The next day, he told a man named Yuan that he had a large number of masks for sale.

Huang used pictures and videos of surgical masks and to win Yuan's trust and gave him a false pickup location. He requested an advance payment and got over 110,000 yuan from Yuan.

After that, he defriended Yuan on social media and Yuan lost contact with him.