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http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,196109,00.html?
More than 1,000 women conned by rogue marriage agency
March 18, 2009
ONE woman was conned into offering her life savings, while another was duped into sleeping with a man by a rogue marriage agency specialising in foreign spouses.
Ms Li Li (not her real name), in her 40s, is one such example.
She paid 20,000 yuan ($4,478) to become a member of Yiguanglian agency.
The agency told her they will find her a foreign man provided she covers all his expenses in China, reported China Daily.
And the story got more suspicious - they wanted her to sleep with the Westerner too, saying pre-marital sex was common in Western culture.
She agreed to all conditions, thinking that a marriage was on the cards.
But the man disappeared.
Ms Li Li realised she had been conned when she turned up at the agency and saw other women asking for refunds.
What shocked her was that a few of those women had been hooked up with the same man she slept with.
Ms Liu Qian, 39, also asking for a refund, also told the paper of how she lost her life savings after signing up with the same agency in 2006. Then, she had just come out of a divorce after her husband left her for another woman.
Ms Liu was devastated and contemplated suicide, but abandoned the idea as she had to care for her son, 5.
She spotted an advertisement and was lured by its promises of a successful marriage with well-heeled foreigners.
Ms Liu sold her minibus - her only source of income - and paid 24,000 yuan to become a member.
Days later, agency manager Qiao Chunxian, brought her some letters claiming it was posted to Ms Liu from foreign countries.
Ms Liu said: 'Qiao said a foreigner had shown great interest in me, and was going to visit China in August, 2007.'
Half a year passed and no man turned up. Qiao told her that the man stopped mailing, and suggested that Ms Liu was not good-looking.
Said Ms Liu: 'Qiao suggested that I undergo cosmetic surgery. I followed her advice and spent more than 10,000 yuan on the operation. I did look better than before but Qiao still could not put me in touch with the foreigner.'
More than a year passed, and still no man. By this time, Qian had offered excuses: That Westerners do not like women with children and that the fengshui of Ms Liu's house is bad.
So when she turned up at the agency and realised it was a scam, she told the paper she was devastated and kept crying.
More than 70 victims made a report to the police against the agency, resulting in Qiao's arrest last year.
Chinese law states that no marriage agency is allowed to engage in international marriages.
Mr Hu Chuanbin, a policeman from the Changchun Public Security Bureau, said that 94 women in the province have been scammed by the agency, with the oldest being 54 and the youngest, 20.
Most were laid-off workers or farmers and had paid some 20,000 yuan to the agency, which had reportedly raked in 2.5 million yuan in Jilin province alone.
In the past eight years, more than 1,000 women fell victim to the scam.
Last November, Yiguanglian Group chairman Qi Yaomin was sentenced to 10 years in prison and a fine of two million yuan.
More than 1,000 women conned by rogue marriage agency
March 18, 2009
ONE woman was conned into offering her life savings, while another was duped into sleeping with a man by a rogue marriage agency specialising in foreign spouses.
Ms Li Li (not her real name), in her 40s, is one such example.
She paid 20,000 yuan ($4,478) to become a member of Yiguanglian agency.
The agency told her they will find her a foreign man provided she covers all his expenses in China, reported China Daily.
And the story got more suspicious - they wanted her to sleep with the Westerner too, saying pre-marital sex was common in Western culture.
She agreed to all conditions, thinking that a marriage was on the cards.
But the man disappeared.
Ms Li Li realised she had been conned when she turned up at the agency and saw other women asking for refunds.
What shocked her was that a few of those women had been hooked up with the same man she slept with.
Ms Liu Qian, 39, also asking for a refund, also told the paper of how she lost her life savings after signing up with the same agency in 2006. Then, she had just come out of a divorce after her husband left her for another woman.
Ms Liu was devastated and contemplated suicide, but abandoned the idea as she had to care for her son, 5.
She spotted an advertisement and was lured by its promises of a successful marriage with well-heeled foreigners.
Ms Liu sold her minibus - her only source of income - and paid 24,000 yuan to become a member.
Days later, agency manager Qiao Chunxian, brought her some letters claiming it was posted to Ms Liu from foreign countries.
Ms Liu said: 'Qiao said a foreigner had shown great interest in me, and was going to visit China in August, 2007.'
Half a year passed and no man turned up. Qiao told her that the man stopped mailing, and suggested that Ms Liu was not good-looking.
Said Ms Liu: 'Qiao suggested that I undergo cosmetic surgery. I followed her advice and spent more than 10,000 yuan on the operation. I did look better than before but Qiao still could not put me in touch with the foreigner.'
More than a year passed, and still no man. By this time, Qian had offered excuses: That Westerners do not like women with children and that the fengshui of Ms Liu's house is bad.
So when she turned up at the agency and realised it was a scam, she told the paper she was devastated and kept crying.
More than 70 victims made a report to the police against the agency, resulting in Qiao's arrest last year.
Chinese law states that no marriage agency is allowed to engage in international marriages.
Mr Hu Chuanbin, a policeman from the Changchun Public Security Bureau, said that 94 women in the province have been scammed by the agency, with the oldest being 54 and the youngest, 20.
Most were laid-off workers or farmers and had paid some 20,000 yuan to the agency, which had reportedly raked in 2.5 million yuan in Jilin province alone.
In the past eight years, more than 1,000 women fell victim to the scam.
Last November, Yiguanglian Group chairman Qi Yaomin was sentenced to 10 years in prison and a fine of two million yuan.
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