Advertisement

Chinese man poses as doctor, dupes girlfriend out of US$360,000, pair often meet on hospital grounds

  • Man develops gambling addiction, uses loans to repay debts, says he was investing the money in futures investment fund

Reading Time:2 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
A Chinese man pretended to be a doctor and tricked his girlfriend into giving him US$360,000 over a period of six years, with the couple frequently rendezvousing on hospital premises. Photo: SCMP composite/Shutterstock

A court in Shanghai charged a Chinese man with fraud for stealing 2.6 million yuan (US$360,000) from his girlfriend after he posed as a doctor at a top-tier hospital.

Advertisement

The man, surnamed Zhang, was sentenced to 11 years and six months in prison and fined 250,000 yuan (US$35,000) for the crime.

The court disclosed the case in May but did not specify the dates of the crime.

Zhang, who actually worked at a hotel, started the fraud in 2016 when he was introduced to Huang, who worked at a shopping mall.

Throughout their six-year relationship, Zhang claimed to be an obstetrician-gynaecologist at a top-tier hospital in Shanghai. He also said he graduated from a well-known medical school in China.

Advertisement

Zhang created a convincing persona as a “successful professional”, and Huang never doubted his story. They began dating about three months after the initial introduction.

Advertisement