Two models have been sentenced for cheating a rich man in Sanming City, south China's Fujian Province out of more than 9.3 million yuan by posing as Bill Gates' ex-wife, the Southern Express reported Tuesday.

Models swindle millions by posing as Bill Gates' ex-wife

Zhang Li, a wealthy businessman in his hometown, was not satisfied with his social position and was looking for ways to connect with powerful and influential people.

However, as the old Chinese saying goes, "flies will always go for cracked eggs." Two young women entered Zhang's life at this time to take advantage of his gullibility.

Zheng Jiaxin, 30, had earned a living as a model, bustling back and forth between Beijing and Shanghai before she met Zhang in October 2012.

During their contact, Zheng learned that the man had recently divorced but was keen to marry again as long as the bride was the daughter of an important central government official.

Zheng then introduced her best friend, 31-year-old Chen Xiaoyun, to Zhang Li, falsely claiming she came from the family of a Chinese central government official and was also a postgraduate from an American university. She even claimed Chen had just divorced Microsoft founder Bill Gates.

The man was immediately attracted by Chen's good looks, but remained somewhat suspicious of her identity. To worm her way into his confidence, Chen used an assumed name of Ai Feng and showed him photographs of herself posing with a central governmental official, which she had saved on her mobile phone.

In the following half a year, the two women colluded to cheat Zhang, who spent his money on them. He didn't realize that he was being cheated until May 2013, when the two women cajoled him into paying 546,700 yuan for fashionable dresses for them, later returning the merchandise and sharing the money.

Zhang reported the fraud to local police and the two women were arrested in Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province, on June 18, 2013. By that time, Zhang Li had already been cheated out of more than 9.34 million yuan including watches, mobile phones, diamond rings, jewelry, gold, dresses and bags.

On June 4, 2014, the Sanming Municipal Intermediate People's Court found the two women guilty of fraud and they were each sentenced to 13 years in prison and fined 1 million yuan, however they appealed their conviction.

According to a recent final judgment from the Fujian Provincial Higher People's Court, Zhang Jiaxin's original sentence was upheld, while Chen Xiaoyun had her prison term reduced to 11 years with a fine of 800,000 yuan.

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