Marriage swindlers end up behind bars

Date: 2006-07-18

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Haikou Intermediate People's Court recently sentenced 17 defendants from a gang of marriage swindlers to serve jail terms ranging from 16 months to 13 years.

The gang have been investigated to have swindled more than 1.4 million yuan (US$175,000) from 3,781 victims from around the country over the past two years.

It is, so far, the largest case marriage fraud handled by a court on the Chinese mainland.

Gang chief Gou Hongshe established a dating agency in June 2003. He charged from 100 yuan (US$12.5) to 500 yuan (US$62.5) in service fees when he introduced a "candidate" to customers.

But all the candidates were actually the swindlers from Gou's gang who dumped the victims after they defrauded money from them.

The gang was busted late last year.

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