Man behind bars for defrauding single women
The suspect surnamed Zhu is questioned by the police.
A married 45-year-old man has been taken into custody for allegedly defrauding three women by claiming to be a wealthy divorcee, Shanghai police said on Friday.
The three have lost about 10 million yuan (US$1.5 million) to the perpetrator, police said.
Police in Putuo District began investigation in January after a woman surnamed Li claimed a man surnamed Zhu defrauded her out of more than 7 million yuan since 2011.
Li said she became acquainted with Zhu in 2011 in a QQ chatroom, a popular instant messaging platform in China. The chatroom was designated for people who were supposed to be divorced.
Zhu claimed he's a businessman with multiple real estate properties, and after a few dates Li began a relationship with him.
In the past 10 years, Zhu often borrowed money from Li under the guise of investments and paying back home loans. It wasn't until earlier this year that Li found out Zhu is married, and has been living with his wife and daughter the entire time.
The investigation led to two other victims, a woman surnamed Yu who met Zhu in 2016 while traveling and a woman surnamed Zhang who met him on a social networking website. Yu and Zhang have lost more than 1 million and 340,000 yuan to Zhu, respectively, police said.
Zhu was apprehended earlier this month, and has confessed that he lied to the women about his marital and income status to defraud them.
He said he has spent all the money the women gave him.
