12-year jail for swindler in China

Beijing, April 7 (IANS) A man who duped four people of over 924,000 yuan (about $146,000) while pretending to be a Hong Kong company manager has been sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Prosecutors at the Minhang District People's Court said the 59-year-old man, surnamed Yu, lived in Shanghai's Putuo district. He claimed being the construction department manager of a Hong Kong-based company since February 2009, Shanghai Daily reported.

He spread false information, saying his company was seeking sub-contractors to develop a land parcel on Wuzhong Road, which lured some bidders.

To win construction projects, two victims -- surnamed Zhang and Qin -- handed a total of 424,000 yuan to Yu as commissions in August 2009.

Between March 2010 and July last year, Yu registered himself as a wealthy man at several match-making agencies and swindled two women out of 500,000 yuan. He was caught by police last July 10 and fined 100,000 yuan in that case, the court said.