“Manchurian Princess” Scams Millions From Chinese “Investors”

From NetEase:

48-Year-Old Woman Scammed 5.72 Million Posing as Qing Dynasty Princess

”The Aisin Gioro Third Princess – The Princess of Changping” was recently arrested by Xian police. “The Third Princess” is a 48 year old who claims to control “175 billion yuan in assets” leftover from the Qing Dynasty royal Aisin Gioro clan, except these assets are currently “frozen”. She hopes someone can help her by investing money to open up connections to “unfreeze these assets”, and in return promises to give the investor triple the amount in repayment. Six people believed her and successively invested 5.72 million yuan.

It was only until one of the investors, Old Wang, received 500,000 USD in “unfrozen” assets and discovered it was almost all counterfeit money did the scam surface. The police explained that “Princess” Wang X only has a primary school education, and the rest of her accomplices also do not have much education, while those who were swindled were all senior citizens between the ages of 60 to 80, whom also are not highly educated, but did have some money on hand.

In 2013 January, one of the people scammed, Old Wang, was invited by his fellow villager to a promotional event held by the Huangyuyin Limited Company at a 4-star hotel in Xian. Old Wang said this event really “opened his eyes”. Through the event, Lao Wang discovered that the company head is a descendant of “Qing Dynasty royalty” – with the title “Changping”, the Third Aisin Gioro Princess. The event revolved around “unfreezing the Aisin Gioro family assets”.

Old Wang said the “princess” claimed to have 175 billion yuan in frozen assets, including gold bars, gold jewelry, and American dollars saved during the Republican period, all of which are divided among eight treasuries/vaults in Sichuan and Guizhou. The key to the vaults are in her hands, but to unfreeze the assets, she can’t do it by herself, she must have people give money to “open up connections”. With the aim of making this happen, The “princess’” friends joined her in establishing the Huangyuyin Limited Company.

Old Wang said, after some time, and to prove the treasuries “really” do exist, the “princess” took the investors on flight after flight to Guizhou and Sichuan, journeying deep into the mountains to go visit the treasuries/vaults. But every time they went, there were troops stationed there, so the “princess” could only let the investors see from afar. Old Wang said he too had seen the vaults pointed out by the “princess”.

Because he knew that the “princess” had successively taken some items from the treasuries/vaults, the largest investor, Old Wang, asked the “princess” to at least first give him some. In July 25th of this year, unable to tolerate Lao Wang’s repeated demands, the “princess” handed over 500,000 USD to Old Wang. Old Wang said he was extremely excited at the time, and rushed to pay back the money he had borrowed from relatives. To his surprise, his relatives said apart from the first bill of each stack being real, everything else was counterfeit money.

According to police, in late 2012, after Yang X from Beilin District and Jiang X from Fuping (same town as Old Wang) met Wang X and heard her say she’s Manchurian ethnicity, and looks like the Aisin Gioro princess, they assembled seven people and together formed a “scam” company. Using the 200,000 yuan from Old Wang as start up capital, they attracted investors from all over the country. To make the scheme more realistic, they even placed many “gold” and “jade” items in Wang X’s office.

According to police reports, there are 10 people involved currently known, with nine suspects having been captured in Hangzhou, Shanghai, Henan and other areas, and one still on the run. Six have already been formally arrested and charged. In addition, they confiscated large amounts of counterfeit money and templates for making fake money.

The 5.72 million yuan scammed by the group was mostly used by the on dining and setting up their scheme, with little left by the time the crime was discovered. The “princess” herself knew she was scamming people, and when her assistant drove a military vehicle to obtain counterfeit money, she refused to ride with him fearing that she might be caught… Photo is of the police counting the confiscated “American Dollars” and “gold”.

Comments on NetEase:

空亦空 [网易广西桂林市网友]：

Anyone with a bit of brain knows that after 60 years of confiscations, even if they did have assets in the past, it would’ve been long gone by now.

网易山东省青岛市网友：

Hahaha, she finally get to wear the Yellow Jacket [royal garments].

网易江苏省苏州市网友：

Come on, this gold looks way too fake.

再过百年 [网易广东省广州市网友]：

This country simply as too many idiots.

想去非洲发展 [网易河南省安阳市网友]：

175 billion…more money than even Ma Yun [head of Alibaba, the richest man in China].

12347664494 [网易广东省广州市网友]：

One can scam money even with this kind of method? It is not that the con artists are smart but that some people are just too greedy. For many years, there were emails like this claiming to be someone from abroad, that they have a large amount of frozen assets, and is in need of help. Then they will ask for you for a contact method and such. Looks like this is the Chinese version of [that scam] and there were actually people who fell for it! Sigh.

撸壹管 [网易广东省东莞市网友]：

Are the people who fell for it all stupid cunts? A princess that look like that? Fat, round and unrefined. This 48-year-old woman is which emperor’s daughter? Xianfeng Emperor died in 1861, later Tongzhi, Guangxu, Xuantong all had no descendants. May I ask which generation this princess is, and how many years has she been living?

网易山东省潍坊市网友：

Why is it all US dollars?

网易广东省广州市手机网友：

Such a short and ugly princess, just what kind of girls have the emperors been fucking?!

网易河南省平顶山市手机网友：

I really admire this woman’s intelligence, and I admire the stupid cunts who gave her money even more.

网易江苏省南京市手机网友：

The paint is already coming off the gold…

十二年毕业 [网易北京市网友]：

Anyone want to go treasure hunting? I have the keys to Genghis Khan’s tomb!!!

网易北京市手机网友：

Why is it all greenbacks? Were all the people who were scammed laowai?

暴暴暴龙哥 [网易浙江省杭州市网友]：

Do you know about a certain ethnic group’s [Manchurian] restoration association? I heard they have branches in many cities, and even having celebrity members. Lastly I want to say: 10 days in Jiading, the massacre in Yangzhou.