AN 85-year-old man lost more than 200,000 (US$29,236) and an apartment after he fell in love with a barber 47 years his junior, according to a SZTV report.

The old man, surnamed Huang, has been living alone since his partner died in 2003. He made the acquaintance of the 38-year-old woman, identified as Ah Li, at a barber shop in Dongmen, Luohu District. Finding each other congenial, the two shared their contact numbers and soon became friends.

When Ah Li learned Huang was a widow, she began to frequent his apartment, helping out with his domestic affairs and otherwise taking care of the old man. In time, the two grew close and Huang developed affections for Ah Li.

The affection appeared to be mutual when Ah Li asked to marry him. “I know that I am many decades older than her,” said Huang. “She promised to marry me.” Blinded by his lover’s seeming affection and devotion, the old man soon fell prey to Ah Li’s machinations.

In the beginning of 2009, claiming that her brother had failed in business and urgently needed money, Ah Li persuaded Huang to transfer his property in the South Bay of the Buji area to her.

Aside from coming to see the old man less and less often, Ah Li demanded 3,500 yuan for monthly living expenses and supposedly for her studies at a computer and accounting school.

Over the course of several years, more than 200,000 yuan had been handed over to Ah Li. The woman’s absence had failed to raise Huang’s suspicions, but he finally realized that he had been scammed.

Although Huang’s three children are currently working in Shenzhen, they rarely visit him. Loneliness was part of the reason that it was so easy for the old man to fall prey to emotional deception.

Huang made a report to the police, who are investigating. Huang’s lawyer said it would be difficult to recover the apartment.

(Zhang Qian, Chen Manqi)