That’s rich: wife throws ‘diamond’ dowry rings into river to prevent hubby knowing they’re fake

Police in Shanghai have arrested a woman who had reported to them that her valuable diamond rings were missing when in fact they were fakes that she had thrown in a river to prevent her husband from discovering her deception, Shanghai Television reported today.

The woman, identified as Qianqian, threw her fake rings into a moat at her apartment compound after her husband, named as Xiaojun who was unaware that they were fakes, tried to sell them to buy a bigger flat.

Qianqian bought the fake rings from online retailer Taobao.com in November for about 3,000 yuan (HK$3,580) to impress her then boyfriend Xiaojun, who is from a rich family. She told them they were worth about 20 million yuan.

The two married in December with Qianqian’s diamond rings as dowry, according to the report.

Xiaojun joined a car club chat group on WeChat after he bought a Lamborghini with a mortgage after their marriage and was disheartened to learn he was among the least well-off in the group.

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To make her husband feel better, Qianqian bought another fake diamond ring, shared pictures of the collection of rings on social media and told her friends that her husband spent all his money on them.