Man Who Scammed 5 Women
All Victims Live in the Same Apartment
Netizens Say "It Sounds Like a Lie"
A man in China has caused a stir after it was revealed that he married or cohabited with five women over the course of four years.
According to the Hong Kong South China Morning Post (SCMP) on the 5th (local time), Xiao Jun (a pseudonym), a man from Jilin Province in northeastern China, had two legal wives and three lovers, maintaining these relationships without being discovered for four years. He grew up in poverty and dropped out of middle school but succeeded in marrying a woman named Xiao Jia by pretending to be the heir of a wealthy businessman. However, his true financial situation was soon exposed, and Xiao Jia, who was pregnant at the time, decided to raise the child alone and kicked him out.
Nevertheless, Xiao Jun met a new partner just a week later. He won over Xiao Hong, whom he met through an online game, using similar tactics. Xiao Jun borrowed 140,000 yuan (about 27 million KRW) from Xiao Hong, claiming he needed to renovate a house where they would live together in the future. Additionally, he swindled 15,000 yuan (about 2.9 million KRW) from Xiao Min, a university student, 10,000 yuan (about 1.94 million KRW) from Xiao Xin, and 8,000 yuan (about 1.55 million KRW) from Xiao Lan, a nurse, using similar methods. All of them were neighbors living in the same apartment complex. It was even revealed that Xiao Jia and Xiao Hong lived in the same building, adding to the shock.
Then, in April last year, Xiao Xin demanded repayment of the 10,000 yuan she had lent for tuition fees, which led to the exposure of his fraudulent activities. At that time, Xiao Jun handed over a black bag, saying, "There is 100,000 yuan inside. It is money for an important business, so please do not open it." A month later, feeling increasingly ignored by him, Xiao Xin opened the bag and found only practice cash used by bank employees to count bills, contrary to his claim. Furious at being deceived, Xiao Xin reported him to the police, and Xiao Jun was eventually arrested. His legal wives, Xiao Jia and Xiao Hong, only realized they shared the same husband after being contacted by the police while out walking with their children. Subsequently, Xiao Jun was sentenced to 9 years and 6 months in prison and fined 120,000 yuan (about 23 million KRW) on charges of fraud, bigamy, and theft. The 280,000 yuan (about 54 million KRW) he swindled was confiscated and returned to the victims.
Chinese netizens who learned about the story reacted with comments such as, "Even TV dramas wouldn’t dare to write such a story," "How could he meet five women without being discovered?" and "It sounds like a lie."
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