Bhubaneswar: A woman in China, Wang Wei from Gansu, orchestrated a fraud over five year years by changing locks on 80 flats, forging property documents, and illegally selling them at reduced prices, defrauding friends and family of 24 million yuan (Rs 28 crore).
Wang Wei, in her early 30s from Gansu, China, allegedly started the fraud after accumulating heavy credit card debt from extravagant spending. Her husband, Cheng, unaware of the scheme, was repaying a 450,000-yuan (US$62,000) loan his father had taken to support them.
Unaware of his wife’s fraudulent activities, Cheng lived frugally for years to repay his father’s loan, while Wang had been running a scam targeting family members since 2019.
As per report, Wang Wei discovered that a local company was set to allocate a new batch of relocation flats and saw an opportunity for fraud. Using Photoshop, she forged property certificates and floor plans, deceiving locksmiths into changing the locks on 80 apartments with fake ownership documents.
However, to avoid suspicion, she hired different locksmiths for various properties. as per My News Reports, one locksmith recalled how Wang deliberately kept their interactions out of sight, saying, “She displayed the documents that she claimed proved her ownership of the properties, so I had no reason to doubt her.”
Once she had control of the flats, Wang sold them at heavily discounted rates, misleading buyers, 42 family members and friends, including her aunt and her husband’s sister, into believing they were “internal units.” Properties worth 1.1 million yuan were sold for just 600,000 yuan, amounting to a total fraud of 24 million yuan.
Much of the stolen money went to Zhang Zhen, a male live streamer from Harbin, whom Wang became infatuated with after seeing him online in October 2022. She spent over 9.8 million yuan on him, gifting luxury cars, including an SUV worth 1.4 million yuan, and even purchasing properties for him. Zhang later revealed that Wang had also spent hundreds of thousands of yuan on other male live streamers.
Throughout this period, Wang’s husband, unaware of the scam, continued paying off her debts while she splurged on Zhang. The fraud only came to light when authorities intervened. Zhang and the live-streaming platform have since cooperated with police, helping recover 8 million yuan.
The case has ignited a social media storm in China, with discussions exceeding 3 million views. Many questioned how 80 stolen flats remained unnoticed for five years, with one user commenting, “Is there negligence on the part of the property management and developers?”
Another remarked on the betrayal, stating, “The husband works tirelessly to settle debts, while the wife squanders stolen money to support another man. The cruelty of human nature is utterly shocking.”
