"Master of Mount Jiuhua" Scams 36 Women, Convincing Them to Send Money to His Account for "Disaster Relief", Amassing Over 800,000 Yuan. Found Guilty of Rape and Fraud, Sentenced to 18 Years in the First Trial.
A farmer disguised himself as the "Master of Mount Jiuhua," using fortune-telling as a means to swindle money while claiming to be a virgin male who would conduct spiritual practice with female victims in hotel rooms. Over seven years, Zu Fuyou used this scheme to defraud 36 women of over 800,000 yuan, with multiple victims engaging in sexual relations with him due to their belief in his lies. Strikingly, not a single victim reported the case to the police before the incident was uncovered.
Reporters learned today that Zu Fuyou was sentenced in the first trial by Dongcheng Court to 18 years in prison for the crimes of rape and fraud.
The case came to light when suspicious behavior by a young woman on the street led to the arrest of a mysterious man in a hotel.
On the evening of November 13, 2010 at 11 PM, a young woman walked out of a hotel near Guangqu Gate in Dongcheng District. Officers patrolling the area from Dongcheng's Donghuashi Police Station noticed her suspicious behavior. When questioned by the officers, the young woman appeared extremely uneasy, claiming she had just been chatting with her master in the hotel. Based on the clues provided by the woman, the police arrested a Zu-surnamed man in the hotel.
The man, Zu Fuyou, claimed he was engaged in prostitution with the woman, but this was denied by the female party, Ms. Guo. After investigation, the police found that Zu Fuyou was not only suspected of fraud but also of raping Ms. Guo.
Ms. Guo, in her twenties, is an out-of-town migrant worker in Beijing.
Ms. Guo recalled meeting a middle-aged woman on the street who claimed to be able to read fortunes and warned her of impending misfortune. Extremely worried, Ms. Guo listened as the middle-aged woman claimed to know a "master" from Mount Jiuhua who could help change her fate.
Subsequently, Ms. Guo received a call from someone claiming to be the "Abbot of Mount Jiuhua." The caller said if she sincerely wanted to change her fate, she would need to spend money on rituals. The "Abbot of Mount Jiuhua" offered different tiers of ritual costs such as 1999 yuan, 2999 yuan, etc.
Desperate to ward off disaster, Ms. Guo transferred 2000 yuan in two installments to the bank account provided by the "Abbot," purportedly belonging to the "Mount Jiuhua Finance Department."
Months later, the "Abbot of Mount Jiuhua" called Ms. Guo again, saying she still faced calamities and needed to conduct spiritual practices with a virgin male. He introduced his disciple, "Shi Guoyin," as a suitable candidate currently residing in Beijing.
Following the "master's" instructions, Ms. Guo contacted "Shi Guoyin" and met him at a chain hotel on the evening of November 13. In the hotel, "Shi Guoyin" claimed he was Ms. Guo's "husband from a past life," insisting they must practice together to resolve her misfortunes. Under deception and coercion by "Shi Guoyin," Ms. Guo had no choice but to engage in sexual relations with him.
Investigation revealed that "Shi Guoyin" and the "Abbot of Mount Jiuhua" were both aliases used by Zu Fuyou. At 45 years old, Zu Fuyou was actually a farmer with only a junior high school education. In phone calls, Zu mimicked an elderly voice to deceive his victims as the "abbot." The middle-aged woman who approached Ms. Guo on the street was his hired accomplice, "Third Aunt."
Zu Fuyou confessed that he had a wife and children and began this scam in 2003 after being "inspired" by a fellow villager. The scam involved finding accomplices to approach female targets on the street, claiming they faced impending disasters that only the "Master of Mount Jiuhua" could eliminate. Using information provided by his accomplices, Zu further deceived the victims, convincing them to transfer money to specified accounts for financial gain.
In this case, the female accomplice "Third Aunt" played a critical role by searching for targets on the streets and initiating conversations. At the time of Zu Fuyou's arrest, "Third Aunt" was still at large.
Deception Spanning Beijing, Tianjin, and Other Areas Amounting to Over 800,000 Yuan
After the case broke, the police discovered over a hundred text messages in Zu Fuyou's phone, all containing deceptive content urging victims to send money for "disaster relief."
Upon investigation, it was determined that between July 2003 and November 2010, Zu Fuyou impersonated the "Master of Mount Jiuhua," under the alias "Shi Guoyin," claiming to perform rituals for others' disaster relief and fate transformation. During this period, he raped four victims and defrauded 36 people of over 800,000 yuan across Beijing, Tianjin, and Nantong in Jiangsu Province.
It was understood that the number of women raped was higher than what was officially documented, but many victims avoided reporting due to concerns about their reputation.
Until the case was exposed, not a single victim had reported the matter to the police.
Court Verdict: Guilty of Two Crimes, Sentenced to 18 Years in the First Trial
The court ruled that Zu Fuyou violated the will of women, exploiting superstition to rape multiple women, infringing upon the personal rights of women, thus constituting the crime of rape; additionally, with the intent of illegal possession, he used superstition to defraud others of substantial amounts of money, violating citizens' property ownership rights, thus constituting the crime of fraud.
The court sentenced Zu Fuyou to 11 years in prison for the crime of rape, depriving him of political rights for two years; for the crime of fraud, he was sentenced to 11 years in prison with a fine of 22,000 yuan. Combined, he was sentenced to 18 years in prison, fined 22,000 yuan, and deprived of political rights for two years.
After the verdict was announced, Zu Fuyou appealed, acknowledging the charges of fraud but arguing that the female victims willingly submitted themselves, hence he did not commit the crime of rape.