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Wan LixinOpinion deputy editor of Shanghai Daily
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Magical real estate deal proves costly
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A FOREIGN man has been held for swindling a Chinese woman out of 22,000 yuan (US$3,600), prosecutors in Songjiang District said yesterday.
The 40-year-old victim, surnamed Hua, said she met the man, who claimed to work for Malaysian lender Maybank, in a hotel room. He was there to give Hua US$1.5 million to pay for a house she was helping his “accomplice” to buy.
The woman said that prior to meeting the “banker,” she had engaged in several online chats with a person calling himself Hans and claiming to be British, the prosecutors said.
Hans told Hua that he wanted to buy a house in Shanghai and said he’d pay her a commission if she helped him to find one.
After researching the market, Hua suggested a villa in Songjiang and Hans agreed. He told her he would send his agent to meet her and hand over the cash, including her commission.
When Hua met the banker — whom police described only as being black — he showed her a briefcase filled with banknote-sized pieces of black paper.
The man explained that the notes had been painted with a special dye that rendered them useless in the event of them being stolen, but which could be easily be removed using a special liquid.
He then proceeded to apply the potion to two of the notes, which “magically transformed” into US$100 bills.
Convinced she was dealing with an honest broker, Hua took the case of money and agreed to pay the banker 35,000 yuan for the “magic” cleaning fluid.
Hua paid the man 8,000 yuan in cash and transferred a further 14,000 yuan to his bank account the next day.
Soon after, however, she realized she had been hoodwinked and tried to get in touch with the two men. Neither was available, so she called police.
The banker was quickly located and is now in custody.
Prosecutors said they are still looking for Hans, whom they insist really does exist.
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