A 36-year-old woman, Luo, has been sentenced to six years in prison for fraud after a court found she had eight marriages over roughly 15 years. Following her initial five marriages, she engaged in a spree of matchmaking and whirlwind marriages over three years, defrauding three men from other provinces of a total of 306,470 yuan in bride prices and other payments. After each marriage, she deliberately created and escalated conflicts to leave her husbands' homes. The scheme unraveled last June, leading to her criminal detention.
On July 8th, it was reported that the Nanming District People's Court in Guiyang City issued a first-instance verdict in mid-June. Luo was convicted of fraud, sentenced to six years in prison, and ordered to return a total of 306,470 yuan in economic losses to the three victims.
Court Findings on the Fraudulent Marriages
The court established that on November 29, 2023, Luo was introduced to a man named Wen through a matchmaking company. She concealed her history of quick marriages, gaining the trust of Wen and his family. They registered their marriage the next day. Wen's father paid Luo a bride price of 148,000 yuan and spent 34,000 yuan on gold jewelry for her. After living together in Hubei for a period, Luo intentionally created and amplified conflicts, leading to arguments and separate living arrangements. In January 2024, Luo returned to Guiyang for a wedding banquet. Afterwards, she repeatedly refused requests from the husband's family to return to Hubei. She used the bride price money and proceeds from selling the gold jewelry to repay personal debts and for personal consumption.
On September 14, 2024, Luo was introduced to a man named Xu through another company. She fabricated a story that her previous quick marriages were to increase household registrations for拆迁 compensation, thereby deceiving Xu and his family. They registered their marriage the same day. Xu paid a bride price of 88,000 yuan, of which Luo received 28,000 yuan upfront, with the remaining 60,000 yuan held in escrow by the company, to be paid upon her pregnancy and childbirth. The next day, they went to live together in Jiangsu, where Xu's mother spent an additional 4,470 yuan on a gold necklace for Luo. Luo then began deliberately creating conflicts, fabricated reasons for being unable to live together, and left Xu's residence. She used the received bride price and proceeds from selling the necklace for personal debts and expenses. After their divorce, the company returned the escrowed 60,000 yuan to Xu.
On March 30, 2025, Luo was introduced to a man named Zeng. She again hid her history of quick marriages to gain his and his family's trust. They registered their marriage on April 3rd of the same year, with Zeng paying a bride price of 88,000 yuan. While living together in Jiangxi, at Luo's request, Zeng spent 16,728 yuan on a gold ring, necklace, pendant, and earrings for her, and later spent 33,680 yuan on a gold bracelet. Luo intentionally created and amplified conflicts with Zeng, leaving Jiangxi on May 2nd under the pretext of her grandmother's illness. Subsequently, she used a social platform to demand an additional 4,000 yuan from Zeng in two installments for personal use. On June 5, 2025, the public security authorities recovered the aforementioned gold jewelry from Luo and returned it to Zeng.
Additional Case Details and Sentencing
It was further established that on June 4, 2025, police from the Huaguoyuan Police Station of the Guiyang Public Security Bureau's Nanming Branch contacted Luo by phone, instructing her to report to assist in the investigation. The next day, she voluntarily went to the police station but refused to admit to defrauding others after arriving. Her mobile phone was subsequently seized.
The judgment also disclosed, based on the prosecution's charges, that Luo had a total of eight marriages, including the three described above. Her other five marriages were: registered marriage with Liao on March 30, 2010 (they had a daughter, divorced November 2011); registered marriage with Wang in March 2014 (divorced December 2015); registered marriage with He in March 2018 (divorced November 2018); and beginning in 2022, she started using matchmaking agencies for quick marriages to men living far away, including a registered marriage with Ding from Jiangsu in September 2022 and with Ma from Shaanxi in December 2022.
The court held that Luo, with the purpose of illegal possession, defrauded others of property, and the amount involved was huge, constituting the crime of fraud. Accordingly, on June 18 of this year, the court issued the first-instance judgment, sentencing Luo to six years in prison and a fine of 40,000 yuan for fraud. She was also ordered to compensate Wen for economic losses of 182,000 yuan, Xu for 32,470 yuan, and Zeng for 92,000 yuan. The seized mobile phone is to be disposed of according to law, with the proceeds used to compensate the victims for their economic losses.
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