Marriage-scam victim conned out of $35k
A Wellington man has asked for leniency for the former Christchurch woman who scammed him out of $35,000 by offering her already-married ‘‘sister’’ in a marriage contract.
Wallace – the man only wanted to be known by his surname – got his wish yesterday, but the scammer, Li Jun Xue, 60, will have to pay him another $10,000 in reparations for his expenses and emotional harm.
‘‘You scammed the victim into parting with his money, which he had saved carefully over a number of years for the benefit of his son,’’ Judge Tom Gilbert told her in the Christchurch District Court yesterday.
Xue had been a key figure in the scam, which unfolded after she placed an advertisement in The Dominion Post in June 2013 offering a 45-year-old Singaporean woman for companionship and possible marriage. Wallace contacted Xue through the advertisement. She said the ad was for her sister ‘‘Jessica’’ and arranged for them to meet.
She asked for a $50,000 payment as a demonstration of his financial capacity. He initially refused, but then paid $35,000 into a joint account. When Wallace went to arrange a marriage licence, he found Jessica still had an Australian husband. Xue told him that a divorce could be arranged for an additional $10,000.
He became more uneasy after finding Jessica’s immigration status was also not as had been claimed and went to the police. Wallace, who had been looking for a long-term relationship and a mother for his child, earlier said he had fallen in love with Jessica, whom he now refers to as his ‘‘honey trap’’. Jessica’s whereabouts were unknown. Xue had already paid back the original $35,000 after being found guilty of obtaining it by deception in a judge-alone trial before Judge Gilbert last year.
Judge Gilbert also fined her $7500 at yesterday’s sentencing by video-link with her in Sydney, where she lives, because she has twice been unable to return to Christchurch for the sentencing as immigration have refused to let her into the country.
Defence counsel Alister James said Xue had returned to New Zealand in August 2015 knowing that the police were going to arrest her for the obtaining by deception charge. After her conviction she was allowed to return to Sydney, where she cares for her 86-year-old mother, on bail. James said the victim had sought some leniency for Xue and thought a financial penalty was appropriate.
Judge Gilbert said if Xue had been in New Zealand he would have imposed an electronically-monitored sentence, but that was not possible in Australia.
Wallace’s main concern had been to be recompensed for his losses. ‘‘Other than that, he holds no malice towards you and asks for some leniency for you.’’