According to reports (by reporter Zhu Yan), Miss Zheng spent all her savings and borrowed 400,000 yuan from relatives and friends in the hope of buying a house and leading a happy life with her boyfriend. However, she was both deceived of her money and her love. Recently, the Tongzhou Court heard this case. The man, Geng Yan, was sentenced to 11 years and 6 months in prison for fraud, and fined 12,000 yuan.
The victim, Miss Zheng, stated that she met her boyfriend, Geng Yan, in September 2008. After dating for some time, their relationship became stable, and they began discussing marriage and buying a house. For her own happiness, Miss Zheng did everything she could to help Geng Yan, whether it was for buying a house, investment, or construction projects, she never hesitated. She spent all her savings and then borrowed money from her parents and friends. From November 2009 to June 2010, she gave Geng Yan a total of 400,000 yuan.
Miss Zheng mentioned that her boyfriend, Geng Yan, even showed her a property certificate with his name on it, which made her more certain about her future happiness.
Her boyfriend forged the property certificate to deceive her
Around the Spring Festival of 2010, someone came to collect rent at the property, which made Miss Zheng suspicious. She then went to the real estate transaction hall to check the property certificate. It was then that she discovered that neither she nor her boyfriend, Geng Yan, were the property owners.
Under questioning by Miss Zheng, Geng Yan admitted that the house was rented and the fake property certificate was just to keep her calm. Feeling both angry and desperate, Miss Zheng reported the incident to the police, and Geng Yan was subsequently controlled by the authorities.
He squandered over 300,000 yuan and was sentenced
During the trial, Geng Yan did not object to the charges in the indictment. He said, "I am very sorry for her, please forgive me," but he had no ability to compensate. It was learned that out of the 400,000 yuan defrauded, only over 10,000 yuan was seized and returned to Miss Zheng, while the rest was squandered by him.
After deliberation, the court ruled that Geng Yan's actions constituted fraud, and he was sentenced to 11 years in prison.
■ Legal Explanation
The charge is not affected by the relationship
Legal professionals stated that according to the "Explanations of Several Issues Concerning the Specific Application of Law in Handling Fraud Cases" issued by the Supreme People's Court, if an individual defrauds public or private property exceeding 200,000 yuan, it is considered a particularly huge amount of fraud, so the starting sentence for the defendant in this case was 10 years.
The determination of fraud is not affected by the romantic relationship between the victim and the defendant, or by marital or family member relationships. In reality, fraudsters often choose to "prey on acquaintances" due to the lower defense capabilities of relatives and friends. However, if the defendant actively compensates after the case is exposed and gains the victim's forgiveness, the judge may consider mitigating the punishment appropriately.
■ Related News
Woman detained for defrauding 40,000 yuan from friend
According to reports (by reporter Gan Hao), Mr. Gao, a mid-level manager of a company, met a woman named "Maimei" due to mistakenly receiving a text message. They became friends through text messaging, and later "Maimei" claimed that her child was sick and needed money. Mr. Gao sent over 40,000 yuan to her.
When Mr. Gao urged her to return the money, "Maimei" turned off her phone and disappeared. Mr. Gao reported the incident to the police, and the woman claiming to be "Maimei", Ms. Ma, was controlled by the authorities. She confessed that it was initially a wrong number text message, and her initial texting with Mr. Gao was just for entertainment. Later, she noticed that Mr. Gao was soft-hearted and had inexplicable feelings for her, so she came up with the idea of deceiving him for money. Currently, Ms. Ma has been criminally detained on suspicion of fraud.