A MAN, 19, disguised as a rich young brat, was recently detained by the police for swindling a business owner out of 1.67 million yuan (US$258,182), Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reported.

The victim, 24, who was identified as Zhao Jun in the Daily report, is the owner of a small construction company based in Longgang District. He was having trouble raising enough funds for a project when he got to know a young man named Ah Nan at the end of November last year. Ah Nan claimed that he was a native in Longgang, his father was a village leader, and both his parents had set up companies in Shenzhen, thus having massive family assets.

Several days later, Ah Nan contacted Zhao, saying that he was able to assist in securing the financing of 4 million yuan for Zhao from a general manager surnamed Geng.

Due to his inability to access loans through official channels because of credit investigations, and finding that Ah Nan seemed like a son of a rich family just by judging his brand-name apparel and luxury cars, Zhao entrusted Ah Nan to handle the financing without hesitation.

Later, Ah Nan racked up 475,000 yuan in expenses with excuses of “prepayment for interests,” “purchase of gifts” and “losing money when playing cards with general manager Geng for improving relations,” among others.

In the following days, Ah Nan swindled 100,000 yuan, 280,000 yuan and more than 800,000 yuan from Zhao through other excuses.

Only weeks later did Zhao realize that he had encountered a swindler. After confirming from other channels that Ah Nan is neither a local nor a rich man, Zhao reported to the police Jan. 25.

On the afternoon of Jan. 26, the police tracked down Ah Nan in Jiangmen City, Guangdong Province, and apprehended him in the lobby of a hotel there.

According to the police, Ah Nan, who is actually surnamed Meng, has stayed in Shenzhen for just over a year, marketing for some bars or doing some odds and ends for a living. During this period, he encountered lots of young men, and purposefully studied and imitated their manners and behaviors.

The case is currently under further investigation.

(Tan Yaoquan)