Tsinghua Exchange Student Jailed 14 Years for Defrauding RMB 6M

原创 Charles L. theBeijinger

The Chinese internet is buzzing over news of a Tsinghua University exchange student sentenced to 14 years in jail for defrauding over six million yuan in funds from a local woman.

A Cameroon national, identified only as Wale, was found guilty of fraud by the No. 3 People's Middle Court of Beijing and faces a 140,000 yuan fine and deportation as part of his punishment.

As the court heard, victim Miss Hu met Wale on a dating website in 2014 when he introduced himself as a Tsinghua and Oxford University student.

Over the course of their two-year relationship, Hu paid for Wale's daily needs, school tuition, and dental care. Soon after their first encounter in August 2014, Hu sent Wale 3.02 million yuan in funds. Later, in December 2015, Hu gave Wale 200,000 yuan so that he could supposedly attend a UN climate conference. Hu went on to sell her Beijing home in order to give Wale 2.77 million yuan towards purchasing real estate in Paris after he proposed to her.

However, in July 2016, Hu became suspicious of her expat boyfriend when she found out that Wale originated from Cameroon and not France as he claimed. Wale was arrested by local police in October 2016 and charged with fraud in September 2017.

Over the course of the trial, Wale was accused by prosecutors of concealing his true intentions from Hu. Wale was revealed to have never attended any UN conferences but had instead been residing in Beijing with his live-in Cameroonian girlfriend that became pregnant over the course of his relationship with Hu.

Records show that Wale enrolled at Tsinghua University soon after he graduated from Beijing Normal University in 2013.

The news was nothing short of incendiary on the Chinese internet. Unsympathetic netizens condemned both Hu and Wale, who is identified in Chinese headlines as an "African student."

READ: Beijing Emperor and Qing Dynasty Scammer Faces Prison Time in Shenzhen

Out of the nearly 160,000 comments on NetEase, one popularly-received comment reads, "Because she initiated a romantic relationship with a [insert "n-word"], it serves her right to be swindled." Another person wrote, "Can the brain-damaged Miss Hu also be deported?" Yet another person said, "Cheap beyond comparison, cheap beyond borders."