Ex-convict betrays couple who supported him for 30 years
Forged real estate contracts to pocket large sums
True owner discovered the scheme when a tenant visit revealed the locks had been swapped
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A man in China who hired a locksmith to change the locks on a vacant apartment he did not own, then sold it to acquaintances as if it were his, has been sentenced to more than a decade in prison.
A Shanghai resident surnamed Sun was sentenced to 10 years and three months in prison and fined 100,000 yuan after a court found him guilty of fraud for selling an apartment he did not own to an acquaintance couple for 700,000 yuan ($103,000), according to the South China Morning Post and Chinese outlet Xinmin Evening News on Friday.
Sun had operated two shops in Shanghai before closing them and had a prior fraud conviction.
The victim couple had known Sun for 30 years. A low-income family who had relocated to Shanghai, they consistently provided him with financial and emotional support after his release from prison in 2017.
Sun reportedly told them he was deeply moved by their generosity and promised to repay them someday.
He presented himself as well-connected and financially stable, fabricating stories about owning commercial properties and having a cousin on a neighborhood committee with extensive connections.
When the couple told Sun they wanted to buy a home, he exploited their desire to settle down, telling them he could find them affordable real estate.
Starting in 2023, Sun collected more than 700,000 yuan from the couple under the pretense of needing a down payment and various loan fees. Two years later, he told them he had secured a redevelopment relocation apartment and demanded an additional 400,000 yuan to finalize the deal.
The apartment, however, was not his.
Sun identified a long-vacant unit, then called a locksmith claiming he had lost his key. After changing the locks, he brought the couple to view the apartment, handed them the new key and drew up a fraudulent sales contract.
The real owner, surnamed Wang, had left the unit empty for more than three months while searching for a tenant. In May 2025, Wang visited the apartment with a prospective tenant and found the key no longer worked. Wang reviewed closed-circuit television footage, confirmed the front-door lock had been replaced and reported the incident to police.
After his arrest, Sun told investigators he had already spent most of the money on repaying debts and covering living expenses.
The couple's reaction after the full details of the case came to light was not reported.
The case drew widespread outrage on Chinese social media. Users commented that the couple had likely trusted their longtime friend too much to verify property ownership documents, called Sun a person without conscience who should kneel before the victims and spend his life making amends, and warned others to avoid real estate transactions that bypass official procedures and not to place blind trust in people simply because they are acquaintances.
A 12-year-old boy in China who drove a stolen vehicle on a highway for six hours before being caught by police claimed he was an adult with dwarfism.
jshan@heraldcorp.com
